Blood of Grimm
by Valkerix
Summary: A new team, VNIS (Vanish), is in the same year as team RWBY. It is lead by the lone wolf Valke Itzal, who has a dark, mysterious background. Will he aid in saving the world? Or will he be the key to world destruction? (Rated M for blood and gore and references to adult themes, but no cursing. I do not write summaries well.)
1. Chapter 1: A Story Begins

**Hello! This is my first ever fanfiction, and I was encouraged to upload it to somewhere, even though I was going to keep it private. Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. ( _I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)_**

 **Blood of Grimm: Chapter 1**

Beacon Academy, the foremost combat school in the world of Remnant. Many aspiring huntsmen and huntresses apply every year, and the graduates of the school are always top class warriors. A new school year is beginning, and out of kingdom students are being flown in from all over the world using massive airships. One such airship is arriving at Beacon right now, and one of the staff just made an announcement on the holographic displays. From inside, a girl is shouting. "Oh Yang, gross, you have puke on your shoes! Get away from me, get away from me, get away from me, get away from me!" It seems that one of the incoming students got motion sick.

Meanwhile, a solitary figure is seen on TOP of the airship, where no one is supposed to be able to reach. He wears a strange cloak, the left side and hood white with yellow accents and swirls, with a sleeve, the right side a black cape with red accents covering the entire right side of his body. The remarkable thing was that there is no sign of him having a right arm. His height appears to be about five feet six inches, so somewhat short, but not overly so. He seems to be napping, right on the middle of the top of the ship. Meanwhile, in the ship, a girl in white clothes, with pink hair and electric blue eyes, seems to be searching around, looking for something. She ears a top with red accents and a cherry blossom pattern on it, with an orchid in the left chest area, with no sleeve on the left side, but a long sleeve on the right side, which was wrapped in about five straps, three on the bicep and two on the forearm, in red, black, and brown leather. The left forearm had a long white fingerless glove up to the elbow, and also had two straps in black and brown leather. She had a skirt with red accents and a blue lightning bolt on them, black pants underneath and metal plated leather boots. On her back was what appeared to be an oddly shaped double sided axe, with a golden claw reversed at the end, so the bottom of it had a spike with a slot in it, probably to catch weapons. " _I need to find him, that boy in the cloak… I'm almost certain he's the one!"_ She didn't know his name or who he was, but had been told to watch someone fitting the boy on the roof's description by a trusted mentor.

* * *

Arriving at Beacon Academy, all the students leave the airship to head to the orientation/welcoming ceremony for new students. After everyone left, the cloaked boy jumps down from the roof of the airship. He starts leisurely walking to the place the orientation would start when he hears an explosion. Dropping down and rolling to the side, he looks in the direction of the explosion, seeing a girl in a white dress yelling at a girl in a black dress with a red cloak. Realizing it was a dust explosion, he slowly stands up and walks onward, avoiding the commotion in the circle. Arriving at the auditorium where the orientation would be taking place, he climbs up the wall and sits on the frame of the gigantic door, unnoticed by the other students, save a few who are looking back, including a big armored student with orange hair, who smirked and decided he would remember the cloaked boy.

Soon after, Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy starts his speech. "Ahem… I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people…" At this point the boy drowns out all noise and daydreams. He was here for only one purpose.

* * *

That night, the new students have to sleep in the ballroom because the teams weren't decided so the dorms were not ready. With all the students grouped together, something was bound to happen. In this case, it was the two girls from earlier fighting. The boy sighs in exasperation from the corner, and stands up. He starts to walk outside, intending to climb a tree or a tall building and sleep there, but realizes that several eyes were on him and decided that it was safer to stay in this room, where he would have people around to help him, especially since not all the eyes on him felt just curious. Sitting back down, he puts on a pair of headphones from his backpack, deciding to drown out the sounds of everyone else. Meanwhile, the girl from earlier is staring at the boy, curious as to why he had sat back down, and Cardin Winchester, the armored boy from earlier, who is disappointed that the boy hadn't gone somewhere so he could bully him.

Closing his eyes, the cloaked boy dozes off. "Hey, Valke, wake up!" He awakes with a start. He looks around, seeing that he's no longer in the ballroom, but in a cave. "You're finally up, huh. It's time to go out exploring." A blond haired person in red robes is talking to him. The blond teen gestures outside. "Come on, we agreed to explore the ruins today, rights? We've got to leave before everyone else wakes up."

"Okay, okay," Valke says, his voice sounds musical, but raspy, like a snake. "Just let me get a few things." He runs deeper into the cave, grabbing some food and water, and a large knife, the long blade diamond shaped like a kunai, with a serrated back. He runs back to his friend. "Alright, let's go." They chat on the way to the ruins.

After exploring the ruins, they walk back silently shocked at what they found. Before either one could bring it up, they hear gunfire. "That's the village's direction. We need to go check it out," his friend says. He runs ahead, not worrying about what he may find and what the consequences might be.

"Wait, if you rush ahead you might be in danger!" Valke shouts after his friend. Realizing it's futile, he dashes after his friend, but sticks to the trees, being as stealthy as possible, barely visible due to the combination of speed and stealth. He heard a few last gun shots, and then they stopped. He started moving faster, thinking " _Please let me make it_." Reaching his village, he dashed to the side, hiding in some bushes. Looking out, he saw Atlas company soldiers and robots, which load onto an airship and leave.

As soon as they leave, he dashes to the path he had left the village on that morning. There, he finds his dying friend. "Connor… I'm sorry. I couldn't-"

"Hey… Don't worry... about it. I should have… listened to you and waited," he said between ragged breaths and sporadic coughs of black blood that seemed to evaporate in the sun. "Thanks for the years of friendship… I know that everyone else regarded me as a rebel. Now, go check for any survivors. I'll meet everyone else on the other side." And with that, he closed his eyes, and vaporized into the air like ash.

Running into the village, Valke, looks and calls for any survivors, but found and heard no one. "NO! I could have saved them. That was my job… TO PROTECT THEM ALL!" Despair overtaking him, he loses control and started smashing everything, when…

"HEY! Wake up!" Valke awakes with a start. He was sweating and breathing heavily, his pulse racing. He looked up and saw a boy in green, with magenta eyes and black hair, save for one bundle the same color as his eyes and a girl in pink, with orange-brown hair and teal eyes. "You were thrashing around a little, and looked as though you were about to break something, so we woke you up. Do you need help?" the boy asked.

"Ooh, you can talk to us about it, and we can eat food, and then we can help you or take you to someone who could, and then we could be friends and-" the girl said hyperactively, which was strange considering it was dark outside.

"No, I'm fine." Valke answered, his voice now smooth, but also cold and brusque. He stands up and grabs his bag, and walks quickly outside.

"Yeesh, I wonder what his problem is Ren."

"No idea, but maybe we'll find out one day, Nora." Replied the boy in green. "Come on, let's go back to sleep."

"That flashback again… One day I will have my revenge. But for now, I need to bide my time." Valke muttered to himself. With that, he climbs a building. At the top, he sets his pack down next to a wall and sleeps again.

* * *

The next day, everyone leaves to Beacon Cliff, where they will begin the trials to match up the teams. Waking up, both Cardin and the pink-haired girl notice that Valke was gone, but shrug it off and leave. Meanwhile, Valke was still dozing, when he was woken up by a voice. "Hey, are you awake?" says a female voice with an Australian accent. Opening his eyes and looking around, he sees a Faunus girl in brown, yellow, and black clothing, with brown-red bunny ears. Standing up, he stretches and looks towards the girl. "What are you doing up here? And how did you get up here? Are you a Faunus? Also, I've haven't seen you before, are you a first year?"

"I like being outside, I climbed up here, no, not quite a Faunus, and yes, I am indeed a first year." He says, replying to all the questions at once, tersely. " _What is she doing here? And who is she?_ "

"Oh, in that case, you'd better hurry, all the others left a few minutes ago."

"Really?" Gathering his stuff quickly, he shoulders his bag, and walks to the edge of the building. Looking back, he says "Thank you."

She shakes her head. "No problem. My name's Velvet. Come find me later. You seem like a nice person."

"No promises," he says, jumping down from the building. Gasping in surprise, Velvet runs to the edge, and looks past the edge, but sees nothing.

"That's weird, where did he go?"

Running quickly to the locker areas, he makes it just in time, and stores his bag in his locker, and heads to the Beacon Cliffs. Once there, he stands on an open spring-launcher in the ground since everyone else was standing on one. Ozpin announces that this trial would decide the partners as the first person you make eye-contact with would be your partner for the next four years. Preparing to launch, he sees several other students get launched, before finally being launched himself.

Flying at a high speed, he calculates where he'll hit the tree line, he reaches for a branch with his left hand, and, swinging on the branch, lands on a limb in front of him, then continues to jump from tree to tree, going lower and lower until he finally reaches the ground.


	2. Chapter 2: A Team is Formed

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. ( _I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)_**

 **Blood of Grimm: Chapter 2**

Valke had been sneaking around the forest for about ten minutes, and had seen several Grimm, mainly Beowolves and Ursas, although there had been a few stronger ones, and a couple other students, including a girl in yellow flying through the air, and the orange-brown haired girl from the previous night, who had been swinging in the trees carrying a gigantic hammer, making weird almost bird-like trilling noises. Suddenly, he stops. Standing up slowly, he looks around seeing red eyes all around him. Using his left hand, he draws a long black knife, with no guard between the grip and blade, with the handle wrapped in white cloth. Entering a combat stance, crouching down a little, his left hand in front of him, he closes his eyes, breathes, and says to the Grimm: "Sorry, but I have to kill you. I'll make your deaths swift." With that, he dashes towards the nearest Grimm, weaving left and right. Once in range of the Beowolf, he swings his knife at the neck, nearly severing its head, then, using the momentum to twist around and kick the already dissipating Grimm corpse away, dashes off to the next Grimm. This one he circles around to its back, flips over it and stabs it in the skull, bringing it to the ground as he lands. Releasing the knife, he flips over the Grimm about to attack, dodging the assault and pulls out another identical knife, which he uses to jam into the neck of the Beowolf, pulling it down to open a huge gap in the Creature of Grimm. He releases the knife and pulls out a third identical one. He then dashes around fast enough to rip the grass, fatally cutting and stabbing the Beowolves, always releasing the current knife and grabbing one of the three knives on the ground. Eventually, the Grimm start to run away, and Valke retrieves his knives, sheathing them all. He then starts sneaking away. A few yards later, he sees a blond boy in armor struggling to unpin himself from a tree, a red spear stuck in the wood. Sighing, he just moves on, assuming the owner of the weapon will come to retrieve it; the boy had been carrying a sword.

Meanwhile, the pink haired girl now had her hair in a ponytail, except the front of it, which was still hanging down like bangs, and is struggling to fight a large Ursa, the bodies of a few smaller ursas evaporating around her. In her hands she holds a spear, which was the "axe" she had been carrying earlier, now extended. She's holding it in the traditional style, two hands gripping it, the blade angled up and towards the Ursa. She tries pulling a trigger located where the spear blade meets the shaft of the spear, but it only makes a clicking sound. "Dang it, I'm out of ammo. I need to work on my marksmanship. I spent way too many rounds." Crouching down, she prepares to charge at the final Grimm.

Valke had been sneaking when he heard several loud bangs, and saw some dust clouds in the distance. Deciding to check it out, he runs over there. There he saw a pink haired girl with a spear fighting an Ursa, but it was obvious she would lose. Deciding that the school was probably watching with cameras and that it would look bad if he let another student die, he draws a knife and dashes into the battle.

She sees a flash of black and suddenly the Ursa she was fighting is falling, disintegrating into little pieces. She looked in the direction the flash had gone and saw the cloaked boy from the airship looking at her. As they made eye contact, the two had very different thoughts. " _Great, we made eye contact, now I've got to pair up with someone. This is what happens when I try to be a 'good Samaritan'._ "

She thought " _Perfect, now I can watch this boy without seeming like a stalker. I wonder why I'm supposed to watch him. Is he dangerous? He certainly took out that Ursa quickly._ " Aloud she said: "Hello, I guess we're partners now. My name is Sarasvati, or Sara. It's nice to meet you." She then bowed.

Valke glances at her. "My name's Valke. The relics are this way." And he walked off in the direction he had seen several other students walk.

"Geez, what's wrong with him? He's so cold, and… grumpy." And then she follows him, because he is already a couple yards ahead. "Hey, wait up!" He just keeps walking.

Once there, they see another pair of students, holding a large chess piece: a black king. Valke looks past them and sees twenty pedestals, each holding a large chess piece, save for four of them. The pieces missing, he notices, are the black bishops, the king the other students had, and a white pawn. Sara walks over to say hello while Valke just keeps his distance, observing them while walking towards the pedestals.

"Hi, I'm Sara. And that loner over there says his name is Valke. We just met each other after he killed an Ursa I was fighting."

"You mean losing to." Valke mutters.

"What was that?" Sara asked, suspecting what he had said. Valke replied by ignoring her and sighing. "Well, anyways, I guess these are the relics?"

"Hey. I'm Isabel," said the female of the pair. Her hair is long and black, and has a ribbon tying it together at the end. Her eyes are hazel brown, and are accented by the red circlet with a black gem inlaid in it on her head. She wears red plate armor on her chest. On the right side of her chest is a black diamond-shaped dragon head with red wings. Her shoulder pads are blue and patterned like wings. She wears a red metal glove on the right hand, which has black metal dragon claws, and on her left forearm is a chainmail sleeve up to the elbow, also red. At her hip is a blue scarf hanging from her armor, and she wears black jeans with red metal plates at the outer thighs. She has red metal plate boots, attached to black leather, and the toes are claws as well as the slight high-heel. The knees have a large claw jutting from them pointing upwards. On her back is a red double bladed scythe, so it looks almost like an anchor, with a small axe-like blade at the end. "I assume these are the relics because there are some missing, and we followed some other students here."

"Correction. I tracked them here." The male of the pair interjects. He has a black vest with pockets over a dark blue long-sleeve shirt. The shirt has a yellow snake head split into two segments down the middle, with fangs and venom drops. He has goggles and a black mask like a bandana covering his mouth, with light blue eyes and white short hair. His left arm has a black glove and a yellow leather vambrace, his right arm has a yellow fingerless glove up to almost his elbow. He wears blue jeans with a brown leather belt and black boots. On his hip is a large karambit style knife. "I'm Nicholas. I hunted animals growing up, so teenagers in heavy armor are nothing. Isabel and I met earlier when she almost wandered into a Deathstalker den."

" _Interesting. I'll have to keep my eye on him,_ " Valke observed as he browses the relics while the other students keep chatting. He settles on the black queen, the most powerful piece in chess, but also the one most targeted. Picking it up, he turns rapidly when he hears movement in the forest. A large Goliath Grimm bursts from the tree lines. He yells at the other three to run, and climbs up the ruins and over the wall, then heads toward where he saw the others run.

The others run until they reach a large clearing, about a mile long and almost as wide. At about halfway across, they turn and draw their weapons, Sara prepping her spear while Isabel pulls a rifle from the bottom half of her scythe, and Nick flicks down needles attached to his left hand's vambrace. They split off, Sara running left and Nick right while Isabel runs straight backwards once again. Isabel turns and fires quick bursts at the Goliath, while Sara dashes under it and cuts its legs, slowing it down. Nick then jumps onto the Goliath's back, stabbing several green needles into it, injecting a deadly poison, which kills the Grimm slowly but surely. Sensing its end drawing near, it lets out one final trumpet call before dissipating into dust.

In the forest, Valke hears the call, and pales, not that anybody would see it, recognizing the cry as a juvenile Goliath's distress call. Which meant the others had likely killed it… And considering its size and yet still being a juvenile… Just then the ground shook, and an ear-shattering trumpet is heard. The Goliath's mother was close, and furious that its child was hurt.

Running at his top speed, he manages to catch up to the Goliath adult. It's easily as tall as a three story building, and big enough to camp on. He dashes past it and meets the other students. "Run! That's the Goliath's mother, and its-" just then, the Goliath bursts from the forest. As the other three stare in shock, Valke curses in his head and runs towards it. He pulls out one of his knives and dashes underneath it, cutting its legs, but to no avail, as his knife barely makes scrapes in the Grimm's tough, thick hide. He retreats, knocks the others out of their shock and tells them to run. "Oh, and I'm going to need this," he says, grabbing Sara's weapon. Protesting, she starts to grab him, but he's already dashing back. " _Well, at least this isn't completely suicidal anymore._ " With that, he extends the spear, and pulls the clip out from the claw like structure at the bottom, putting it into his cloak, then pulls it out and loads it after a few seconds. "A railgun, huh? Well, at least it packs a punch." Then he weaves under the legs once again, slashing at the front legs, and then, stabbing the back left leg, pulled the trigger on the spear. This sent the Goliath on its knees. Valke the uses the spear to vault onto the Grimm's back. He runs forward, slashing randomly with the spear, before reaching the neck, where he throws the spear right into the neck. The air ripples from the force of the throw, and pierces the Goliath the entire way through. The Grimm starts disintegrating, and Valke jumps off and retrieves the spear. He looks in front of him. He had stopped the Grimm a foot from the tree line. Looking back, he closes his eyes and mutters: "Rest in peace." He then walks forward to the trees and meets the other three, who, of course, had stopped to watch. " _Idiots_." He gave the spear back.

"How did you do that? That was a huge Goliath! You shouldn't have been able to do that, especially with only one hand!" That was Isabel.

"I've hunted bigger ones." Valke says, then walks away, not saying anything further.

Suddenly, there comes a loud shriek. "That was the direction of the Deathstalker den. Think we should go check it out?" questions Nicholas.

"No. Let's just go back. They'll be fine without us. I think Pyrrha Nikos is with them, so they should be fine," replies Valke, who then walks off.

Later that day, the announcements for the teams are being made by Professor Ozpin. "Isabel Raven, Valke Itzal, Nicholas Rich, and Sarasvati Blume. The four of you retrieved the black monarch pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team VNIS(Vanish). Lead by... Valke Itzal. Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal). Lead by... Cardin Winchester. Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper). Lead by... Jaune Arc." The blond boy from the tree looks surprised. "Congratulations, young man. And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Lead by... Ruby Rose. Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year.

" _You have no idea_." Valke looks at Ozpin. His hand clenches into a fist. Then he turns to his new team. "I'll be outside." Then he simply walks away.


	3. Chapter 3: Classes

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. ( _I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)_**

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 3

Valke is walking away from the ceremony when he hears a familiar voice call after him. "Hey! Wait up!" Signing, he turns around. It was Velvet, the Faunus girl from that morning. "I saw you leaving. Aren't you going to stay? I mean, you don't even know your dorm number yet."

"I don't feel like staying, and I'm not sleeping in the dorm anyways."

"Oh. Well, congratulations on becoming your team's leader. That must be cool, right?"

" _This is annoying_ ," Valke thought. Aloud he said: "It's more annoying than anything. They can lead themselves. I work alone." He turns and walks away.

"Hey Velvet! Yatsuhashi saw you leave. What's up? "A girl walks up and asks Velvet, who turns to face her.

"Oh, nothing, Coco." Velvet replies. Coco is wearing a light brown long sleeve shirt with a frilled collar. Around her neck are several black beaded necklaces and a scarf of the same color. She has a black corset-like garment, black gloves, and a brown leather belt inlaid with bullets with a large gold buckle. There is a semi-skirt hanging from her belt, and she wears black pants with gold colored buttons and stitching, with black leather high heel boots. Her eyes are hidden by her sunglasses, and she has brown hair except for a red-orange part at the end of the fringe at the right side of her face, and a black beret sits atop her head.

"Who's that?" Coco asks, noticing Valke's retreating figure.

"That's Valke. He's one of the new team's leader. We met this morning before the first years' trial. He was sleeping on the roof," explains Velvet.

"Oh? And why did you follow him out here? You like him?" Coco teases.

Blushing slightly, Velvet shakes her head. "No, I just feel like we're similar. He reminds me of myself from last year. He seems nice, but he's lonely and distant."

Well, maybe you'll make some progress. I wouldn't count on it though. I've never heard of anybody walking out on the ceremony, especially not if they're made leader of their team."

The next morning, Valke tracks down his team's dorm room. He enters through the window, places his stuff down, and starts preparing for class. Then, he hears rustling and yawns. " _I was too loud, huh?_ "

Hey, when did you get here? Where did you sleep?" Asks Sara.

Ignoring her, Valke stands up and heads for the door. "Class starts in half an hour. The schedule is on the spare bed," he warns them.

Nicholas grabs his shoulder. "Hey, as team leader, you have-" Valke turns around glaring, allowing his eyes to show. The other three are stunned into silence, and Nick drops his hand. Valke turns and leaves. A few minutes after, when everybody calms down, Nick says: "You two saw that, right? His eyes… they're blood red and **glowing**. And they look like a predator: cold, indifferent, and merciless."

The first class of the day is Professor Port's Grimm Studies class. Professor Port is a portly man with a large belly and white hair. He wears a red suit and is always bragging about something or another. For the most part, Valke is uninterested, already being highly knowledgeable about Grimm. Towards the end of class, he sees the girl in white from the courtyard Dust explosion- Weiss was her name, if he remembered correctly- getting visibly angry. "A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise. So, who among you believes to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss' hand shoots up. "I do sir!" She walks to the front of the class, her sword in hand.

Professor Port grabs his weapon, a combination battle-axe and blunderbuss. Striking open a cage, he releases an average Boarbatusk. Valke immediately knows how he would deal with it. He would dive to the side during its first charge, slashing at its legs, then run up and stab it in its unprotected underside.

Weiss has considerably more trouble. She was angry, and she gets distracted during battle, resulting in her disarmament. She eventually manages to kill the beast, pleasing Professor Port, but the battle was a failure to Valke. Class ends, and as Valke walks away, he hears Weiss snap at her leader. " _That is why I work alone_."

A few minutes later, Professor Ozpin is talking to Ruby, Weiss' leader, who was upset after the Ice Queen's meltdown. "Ruby I've made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this planet. _One of the students is here to remind me of that._ But at this moment I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?" After a few more minutes, Ozpin walks away, having cheered up Ruby.

A few weeks later, in Professor Goodwitch's Combat class, Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc are sparring. As weak as Cardin is, he's stronger than Jaune, who lacks any real combat prowess. Apparently he's a good tactical leader, which is better than Cardin, who keeps hitting his teammates in battle, and leaves himself exposed to counters. Of course, Cardin creams Jaune, and Goodwitch berates Jaune for not using his Scroll to check his Aura level.

That day, Valke is easting in the cafeteria, a rare occurrence, for the purpose of gathering information. He's mostly focusing on teams RWBY and JNPR, considered the strongest of the first years this year. They're talking about Jaune and his getting bullied by Cardin. Jaune stands up. "It's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone."

"Ow, that hurts!" Valke turns to see Team CRDL picking on Velvet for being a Faunus, pulling on her ears. "Please stop."

"See, I told you they were real," says Cardin to his team.

"What a freak," comes the reply.

Enraged to see such discrimination, Valke pulls out a knife and throws it. It lands next to Cardin, embedding in the table. He stands up and stomps over to Cardin. Turning his head to look at Velvet, he tells her "Get back." She walks away quickly behind him. Turning his attention to team CRDL, Valke warns them: "I'll tell you once. Don't discriminate against Faunus anymore."

"Why should I listen to you, cripple!" Cardin spits back. "Get him!" he orders his team.

As team CRDL prepares to attack, Valke jumps back and adopts a fighting stance, legs apart and slightly bent, on the balls of his feet, hand up and outwards, ready to strike and guard. Sky Lark is the first to charge in. Sidestepping under a rather sloppy punch, Valke knees Sky in the chest. As Sky drops to the ground, Dove and Russel are attacking Valke from opposite sides. Grabbing Dove's arm, Valke ducks and pulls, allowing Russel to hit Dove, then spins parallel to the ground to kick Russel in the face. Standing up and turning to Cardin, Valke advances. He dodges a panicked punch, then knees Cardin in the side, then punches him just hard enough to hurt. Slamming Cardin's face on the table, Valke grabs his knife, brandishing it in Cardin's face. "Let's take off **your** ears, see how much of a freak people call you," Valke threatens, his voice now raspy and demonic as he moves his knife slowly towards Cardin's ear.

Just as he's about to start cutting, Valke hears a powerful voice command him to stop. Turning around, he sees Professor Goodwitch. Sheathing his knife and releasing Cardin, he turns to face her. "Look around, you're causing **quite** a commotion!"

Looking around the room, Valke sees traumatized faces. Turning to look at Velvet, who is next to team RWBY, he sees fear in their eyes. Sighing, he faces Professor Goodwitch. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Take me away." He is led away under careful watch.

In a dark room reminding Valke of an interrogation room, Professor Goodwitch is yelling at him. "You're in huge trouble young man! Do you know what you nearly did? We should expel you… but Professor Ozpin has decided on an alternate punishment for you." Surprised, Valke looks at her curiously. "He wants you to go to the city in a week and investigate reports of increased organized crime. You will be there for two weeks, with excused absence from classes. Now go." Valke stands up and walks to the door. "Oh, and young man? Professor Ozpin says to stay safe." Laughing at the irony of the statement, Valke leaves.

A week later, Valke is walking to the airship docks when he sees Velvet with her team. Trying to avoid them, he starts walking away quickly, but a girl in a beret taps Velvet and points to him. As Velvet walks towards him, he curses his luck. She had been avoiding him since the incident, even though they had a few classes together, such as the hyper Professor Oobleck's History class.

"Hey there. Um… thank you for stopping Cardin. I was too shy to stop him myself, and he hasn't bullied me since. You… aren't in too much trouble, right,"

Inwardly, Valke laughs, surprised that she wasn't terrified of him. " _Just like that time huh,_ " he thinks, remembering a past event from ten years ago. "No, I'm being sent on a solo mission to investigate crimes in the city. Where are you going?"

"We're being sent to eliminate Grimm to keep a village safe. I'm surprised though, only licensed hunters are given solo missions."

"Well, between us, I have more experience than most hunters." Valke confides.

"Sure." Velvet replies, not believing him.

"Hey, Velvet, come on!" yells one of her teammates.

"Coming Coco!" She looks back to Valke. "See you later?"

He smiles. "Of course." He turns away and walks to his transport.

A week later, Valke is investigating at the city outskirts, where he heard the White Fang, a Faunus extremist group, had a base. He had linked them to the organized crimes, along with an infamous criminal named Roman Torchwick. He spotted several White Fang members and followed them to a building.

Sneaking past the guards, he finds himself in a maze of hallways. The guards are scarce, so a major operation is probably taking place elsewhere. He starts moving quicker, eventually finding several store rooms full of Dust, stolen from various places around town. Marking the locations on his map on his scroll, he continues onward. Suddenly, he finds himself next to several sets of large doors. Entering one, he finds himself in a large warehouse. Inside are several Atlas mechs of an unreleased model and type. " _So they have a source inside Atlas; no way they stole these without inside help._ "

Suddenly, several White Fang soldiers charge in through the door, and drop from the ceiling, surrounding him. " _Shoot, I should have paid more attention_." Valke flips over the first assailant, kicking him in the back, then ducks under s sword and uppercuts the new attacker. Dodging a fist from behind, he rolls, grabbing a weapon and swinging it around, creating a clearing. "There's quite a lot of you. Let me fight at full potential."

Reaching up with his hand, he undoes a clasp at his neck. Pulling his hood down, he shrugs his right shoulder, undoing half the cloak. Reaching over with his **right** hand, he pulls the sleeve off his left arm. Rolling his shoulders, he says to the rebels: "Do you know how good it is to use my right arm again."

Under his cloak, he wear a purple shirt with an odd symbol in green at the center, the right sleeve long with armor plates, the left sleeve ends just below the elbow and has a green serpent coiling up to his shoulder. His right hand is covered by a black glove with a circle of metal on the back of the palm. He wears black cargo pants, the left side long, but the right side goes down to just below his knee, and has white curved spikes around the bottom. He has soft leather boots on. His hair is black, long, and split into two tails. His skin is pale and he has sharp, red eyes, and around his neck is a necklace with red polygonal gems inlaid in it. His right hand reaches down for a single-edged, long purple dagger hanging at the back of his hip. Drawing it, he draws a knife, now magazine that he inserts into a sub-machinegun at the top of the dagger. Green lights on the dagger turn stone grey.

Dashing to his right, he fires his gun, encasing several combatants in stone. Those he misses he weaves towards. Flipping over one and tripping him, he slams the Faunus into the ground. Blocking a strike, he jabs with his left hand, spins, and hits the stunned fighter.

The fight continues until the White Fang suddenly stop, making a path down which walks a pale skinned girl with brown, pink, and white hair, carrying an umbrella. She's dressed in various pieces of pinks, white, and brown clothing. She walks up to Valke.

"Your eyes are interesting." Brown and pink, they are cruel and mischievous, but also somewhat soulless. She swings her umbrella, and Valke rolls to the side. She kicks at him, and he dodges, leaning back, then swings with his dagger. Blocking it with her umbrella, she jabs at his stomach. Unfazed, he tries to shoot her, but his arm twitches, throwing his aim wide. " _Shoot, my arm still isn't adjusted._ " Drawing a sword from her umbrella, she unleashes a flurry of attacks. Unable to dodge all the hits, Valke risks a block, and manages to stop the blade before his arm buckles. The girl kicks him in the face. The last thing he sees is a woman with eyes like fire giving orders before he blacks out.


	4. Chapter 4: A Demon Emerges

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. ( _I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.) Re-uploaded to remove lyrics._**

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 4

Team CVFY is in southwest Vale, about 200 miles from Beacon, in a small village that had been getting harassed by Grimm recently. They had been there for about a week, killing the attacking Grimm. The previous night there had been no attack, so they are preparing to leave for Beacon. All four of them are excited to return to Beacon and rest, as well as plan the school dance, but it was not to be. Coco, the leader, suddenly gets a call directly from Professor Ozpin. Surprised and curious, she answers immediately. "Yes Professor? What do you need?"

"Young woman, I'm afraid I've made a mistake that you can help fix. Please gather your team."

A few minutes later, team CVFY is assembled. Ozpin continues: "In response to an increase in Dust store robberies, I sent Valke Itzal, leader of first year team VNIS, to investigate as punishment for his actions in the cafeteria two weeks ago. Unfortunately, he has not contacted me in two days. I want you to investigate. His last known sight of investigation is being sent to you now. Sorry to prolong you return, but you are the best choice right now."

"Understood. We will investigate immediately." Coco promises. She looks at her team. "Thoughts?"

"If the rumors are true, then this Valke is strong. If he was taken out, we need to be careful." Yatsuhashi, a tall, tanned boy says. He wears a pale green robe with a black shirt underneath. On his left arm is a green samurai style plate shoulder pad, and his hair is black and cut short. He also wears brown pants and carries a huge single-edged bronze colored sword.

Fox, a dark skinned, muscular teen with numerous scars, nods. He wears black pants and a red vest. His hair is red and his eyes are pure white. Next to him are red weapons that are combination blades, bracers, and knuckles.

"They're mostly true. It was honestly rather terrifying. But he did have good intentions, though I have no idea why he did it," Velvet reports.

"Well, let's get going," Coco says, standing up. Walking to the door, she says: "Let's go find our new friend."

Valke is in a dark room, without any lights, though he can see just fine. There is a large steel door, but everything else is reinforced concrete or stone. The walls are thick enough that there are no sounds, not even vibrations from outside. The door is a few inches thick, and has an opening slot to give him food. He thinks back to the first day of his capture.

He had regained consciousness in a room with several dim lights, hanging from his arms and dressed in a long sleeve brown shirt, with matching pants In front of him was a teenage female fox Faunus, whose hair, ears, and tail are red, in a special White Fang uniform. By the door on the opposite side of the room is the fire-eyed woman. "Ah, you're finally awake. Now I can have some fun," the vixen says, with an eerily happy tone of voice.

"Just remember, don't draw blood. No cutting, whipping, and hitting him in the chest or face. Anything else is fair game," she warns as she leaves.

"Hmm. Now, let's see… How about this?" the torturer inquires, picking up a shock prod up from a table full of unconventional torture instruments. She walks over to Valke, and, lifting his shirt up to expose his abdomen, smiles and presses the prod against him, releasing a powerful shock just strong enough to hurt.

"Aaaaaaaggh!" Valke screams as the prod maintains contact for about six seconds, leaving several feathery scars along his chest. As the torturer takes the prod away, Valke is breathing heavily, smiling.

"Who sent you? How much do they know?" the teen demands.

"Like I would ever tell you. If you had asked nicely, maybe, seeing as I don't owe them any favors. But pain won't make me talk. It's why I fight after all."

After shocking him several more times, to no avail, the fox switches tactics. "Very well. Let's try this then," she walks over to the table and picks up a torch. She returns to Valke and holds it just far enough away to cause a slight burn. The torture continues, including water and hallucinatory torture, until Valke blacks out. He had woken up in this cell and has not been retrieved yet. His internal clock says that two days have passed. The isolation is supposed to be slow psychological torture, but it just gives Valke time to heal and think. The scars and burns from the torture are already healing. The difference is visible hourly. He smiles in the dark.

Team CFVY is at the now-empty White Fang base. They can see traces of recent habitation, and Dust in the air is making them cough, but not enough of it is present to cause an explosion. They find the warehouses that had held the mechs, and enter the one with scratches on the walls.

"Look at those scratches. There was a fight here. Valke?" asks Velvet.

"Likely. Okay, let's start an organized search here!" Coco orders her team.

A few minutes later, Fox finds a Beacon Scroll in the corner of the warehouse. Gathering around, the team activates it, finding several sound files. There are several labeled "Report", then a number 1-8. There is also one called "Extra Info", which they activate.

"These are notes not to be sent to Professor Ozpin until further information is gathered. One, the White Fang are involved. Motives unknown. Two, they are working with Roman Torchwick. Reasons unknown. And three, there is somebody higher than Roman giving orders. Identity unknown." The Scroll says the file had been made four days earlier.

Coco is the first to speak. "The White Fang? Bunch of no-good criminals. They give Faunus a bad name."

"I really hate them, says Velvet, browsing through the Scroll. "Hey, there's a folder here labeled 'Downloads'. It has some more recent sound files. I'll play the most recent one."

Scratchy audio with slight static starts playing. "This is an awesome dagger. It fires armor-piercing rounds, and is surprising accurate for the size of the mechanism. And the blade is highly reinforced organic material," a high pitched voice says.

"Hey, weapon nerd! Put that down. We've been ordered not to touch it!" yells a deep growling voice.

"Who's going to know? Torturer Kytsuna's out for a week."

" _Kyt? She's in the White Fang? No. It's probably someone else_." Thinks Velvet, recognizing the name.

"You know she has ways of finding things out. Like when those new recruits had snuck in her room and stolen some personal effects of hers."

"Doesn't work on the new prisoner. I heard he was whistling in the isolation chamber, the freak. Wonder if he's gone mad already."

"He'll break. They always do. Saw an Atlas major in there once. It wasn't pretty. He could barely speak."

There's a slight pause, then a "thunk", then the voices get farther. "Hey, what if we try interrogating the new prisoner? If it works, we might get promoted. Get us closer to the Torturer. She does have a really nice body. Hehe."

"She does have a history of promoting successful orturers, and we get more money out of it."

"So it's agreed! We'll do it the day before she gets back, so the prisoner stews in the chamber a few more days." The clip ends here.

"That was interesting. Now we know that he's captured, but not where he is."

"Wait, there's a new file that just downloaded. I'll play it now."

The audio is in a mysterious voice. "Location: north 15, west 23, in a forest cave system."

"That's it? And who sent that?" wonders Yatsuhashi. "Well, regardless, we have a clue now, so let's go." Team CFVY walks out to return to their transport, Velvet pocketing the Scroll.

Two days later, the door opens, rather surprising Valke, as for full effect, he should have been left in there for a few more days. He looks up to see two unfamiliar Faunus.

"Hurry up and grab 'im," urges a rat Faunus.

"Fine, watch the door," grunts a bear Faunus in reply.

Valke smiles. " _So, they decided to secretly torture me, probably in hopes of getting a promotion. Amateurs_." As the bear picks him up, Valke feels a sudden sense that something bad was about to happen, but shakes it off.

Throwing him into a room, they strap Valke into a chair. Pulling out a club and a large butcher knife, they lock the door and approach him. "Now, you're going to tell us everything," the bear says, brandishing the club.

Valke just smiles at them defiantly. "Playing that way, huh? Well, try this!" The club arcs toward Valke, but is stopped by a dark green Aura. The bear swings several times before the club is broken, although Valke's Aura is also gone.

"Okay, forget that, we'll just take a finger if you don't tell us now!" the rat threatens.

"If you draw my blood, then you had better want to die," Valke warns.

"Shut up! You brought this on yourself!" The rat swings the knife toward Valke's left hand, severing a finger, which immediately dissipates.

"You've down it now," Valke taunts as black blood is released in tendrils from his hand. It crawls up his arm and covers his arm, slowly covering his entire body. His arm breaks through the restraints holding him, and he covers his face in blood.

Team CFVY is in a forest at the said coordinates, and has found a cliff after searching for several hours. "This has to be it. There's nowhere else to have a cave for a long while."

They enter, finding several White Fang members. They draw their weapons and charge, completely obliterating the enemies, Fox nimbly attacking them, while Velvet jumps around hitting them with acrobatic martial arts. Coco pulls out a minigun and starts shooting, while Yatsuhashi swings his sword in large, arcing slashes. After, clearing several rooms, no more White Fang appear. They start running through when they hear a scream. They start to follow the direction of the noise, and part way through, Valke's Scroll starts playing "Monster" by the band Skillet, which startles everyone, but they ignore it.

As they arrive at the room Valke is in, they hear several screams, and slicing sounds, then a splashing sound, and a deep voice yelling. "H- help me!" The door bursts open, and a bear Faunus stands in the doorway covered in blood. "Please sto-"

A red scythe passes through his neck, instantly decapitating him. Blood flies, hitting Velvet, who is in front in the face. Then, the scythe changes to a spear and weaves, slicing the Faunus into a million pieces. Blood flies toward Team CFVY, almost soaking them, but Yatsuhashi deflect most of it with his sword.

The crimson blood puddles on the floor as a Grimm steps forward. It is humanoid and shiny black. It has a body structure like a large skeleton. Its feet are draconic and have large red claws and there is a red, thin tail with a black spike at the end. A white tattered and torn robe, with moving, red, dripping blood-like patterns covers it. The left arm has a torn sleeve covering the upper arm, but the forearm is exposed, revealing white bonelike plates protecting the black bone, and the hand has the same white plates on top, with spiked knuckles. The right arm has no sleeve and the upper arm has bone plates, but not the forearm, which has a gap in it like the human bone-system, and a curved, red blade attached to the outer side of it. The hand is completely encased in armor, and both hands have red claws. The face is a red skull mask, with black hollow eyes, and a nose that fits a skull. The mouth is wide and grinning, revealing sharp needle like teeth. It has long, black hair.

"Is that you Valke?" Velvet asks, her eyes wide.

In response, the creature tilts its head. "He…lp…me..." It says in a demonic, and echoic voice.

Velvet recognizes the voice from the cafeteria incident, and gasps. "It is you…"

Then, the creature shakes its head and hisses, reaching out its right hand. Black tendrils flare, and then drop a spear in Valke's hand, the blade from his arm topping it. It crouches down and lunges. Team CFVY turns and runs, until they reach a large room with more room to fight. Spreading out, they surround Valke in a large circle.

Valke swings the spear around, switching it to his left hand, and lashes out at Yatsuhashi, who blocks it and is forced back from the force of the strike. Fox leaps in and releases a flurry of kicks and punches, each laced with offensive Aura. Valke easily dodges all the attacks and catches Fox's leg, then throws him into Yatsuhashi. Coco, prepares to fire her gun, and while she spools the gun up, Valke cuts his right forearm, spilling black blood. This becomes a red wall, shielding him from Coco's bullets. The wall shatters, but Valke is not behind it. A blur rushes toward her, tackling her to the ground. He lifts the spear and is about to impale her when Velvet yells. "STOP! Please don't do this. We want to help…"

Valke stops and grabs his head, in pain. Then, he shakes his head and raises his hand, controlling the remains of the blood wall to rise and scatter, then he snaps and the blood explodes, releasing a blinding light. When the light fades, Velvet looks around the room, but Valke is gone, the exit door open.


	5. Chapter 5: Retrieval Mission

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 5

"Damn. He got away. Everybody okay?" Coco asks her team.

"Just scratches and bruises. Could be a lot worse," Yatsuhashi replies. "I don't think he was fighting seriously at all. At least, not to kill."

"But he nearly killed Coco! I can't believe that was him," Velvet argues, in shock.

"But he could have just stabbed me when he rushed me. Instead, he only pushed me down," Coco reasons, attempting to calm Velvet down. "Have some faith. He's your friend, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Velvet admits, ashamed. "But why did he attack us?"

"I don't know. We'll find out one way or another. But first, let's go back. We need to report to Ozpin." They leave the caves, and head back to the airship, grabbing Valke's equipment on the way out. "Hello Professor. I'm sorry. We found Valke, but he had turned into a strange creature and attacked us. He beat us easily and ran."

"So the worst has happened, other than his death," Ozpin replies, not surprised at all. "Please keep this a secret. You may return to Beacon. I'll send another team that will be better prepared."

"Sir, what is he?"

"…He's an experimental Grimm called a Reaper."

Team CFVY's airship takes off, leaving behind several unconscious White Fang members and a decimated base. The next day, a White Fang airship arrives. The torturer steps out. When she enter the base, she is greeted by the survivors. They bring her to the room the would-be torturers had tried to interrogate Valke in. The inside is a bloodied mess, and nobody wanted to clean it up.. The bear was basically rotting hamburger, and the rat was in the corner, disemboweled. His ears are cut and torn, his face stuck in a horrified scream. A large, jagged bite is taken from his neck, and his arms are broken. His guts lay out all over the floor, and his chest has a large hole where his heart would be, but instead is dangling out, crushed and cut. The fox smiles. "So the prisoner did this? I love it! It's very brutal." She exits, chuckling quietly. "You three! Clean this mess up, or I'll have you tortured and killed in a worse fashion than those two."

* * *

"A Reaper? And what's an 'experimental Grimm'?" Nick asks. Professor Ozpin had called team to his office on the day when they were to select their first mission. Students from the four combat schools from around the world had been arriving for about a week in preparation for the Vytal Festival.

"Yes. They were made in a secret joint experiment by some of the world's top scientists, mainly from Atlas, in the western region of Mistral. Made by applying human DNA to the blood of every known Grimm, they're fierce hunters, with high strength, intellect, instincts, and vitality. They heal much faster than humans, and can even regenerate limbs. They represent the only successful case of Grimm experimentation and research that I know of.

"Now, you may be wondering how he can be so much like a human. That is my doing. You see, Reapers have two forms and two sides. Human and Grimm, sentient and feral. Normally the feral side controls both forms, but if they wear certain pieces of jewelry, which I developed for the project, the sentient side can control the feral side. The next part, which would allow the sentient side to control both forms, was finished in theory and testing, but never developed due to all the Reapers escaping, killing all the personnel on site at the time. I admit that I regret taking part in this experiment, but now I can help. When Valke came here, I made his second phase control device, for his necklace. It just finished a few days ago. So now, we need him back. That's where you three come in."

He looks at Nick. "Poison… while dangerous, it will likely only slow his healing and reactions down. The tricky part will be to actually inject it into him. Teamwork will be key. Also, beware of his blood. When it turns red, it is infused with Dust and becomes a weapon, and can explode on command. On the bright side, he probably won't try to kill you; his sentient side is strong enough to resist.

"That's all, you may leave." Team VNIS begins to exit. "And don't tell anyone about this," he says, looking at Sara.

* * *

That night, the team is about to go to bed when Sara receives a call. Answering it she is surprised to hear her mentor and guardian's voice. "Hello Sara, how have you been?"

"General Wilde! This is a pleasant surprise. I've been doing well. How are you? And why are you calling so late?" She moves out into the hallway.

"Oh, I'm doing fine. The R&D department just received a new research grant for a new secret project. I just got a break and decided to call you. We haven't talked since you went off to Beacon." General Wilde is in charge of Atlas' Science and Technology Department. His voice gets softer. "Have you found the boy I described?"

"Yes, actually, I'm in a team with him. But um… he's gone missing. We're going to southwest Vale, near the border to search for him. But don't tell anyone that."

"Okay. Do be careful Sara. He's very dangerous."

"Okay thank you. I did watch him take out a gigantic Goliath, so I believe you."

"Well, I should go and let you sleep. Good luck and stay safe."

"Goodbye sir!" Sara hangs up and reenters her team's dorm, then gets into her bed, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next day, the team wakes up early to pack their stuff and load supplies onto their airship. Just as they load the last of the supplies, Professor Goodwitch walks up to them. "Hello students. Since you have been assigned a difficult mission, I have been assigned to accompany you." The members of team VNIS just look at each other and shrug.

As they walk into the airship and take their seats, team JNPR and RWBY are talking. Nora exclaims: "You're going on world-saving missions without us! I'm hurt and sad! Maybe a little hungry…" Her voice is cut off as the door closes and the airship takes off.

"How is that girl so hyper all the time?" wonder Nick shaking his head. "It's one of the world's greatest mysteries.

* * *

A day and a half later, they arrive at the forest Valke is in and notice large storm clouds rolling in. They land and find a nearly abandoned Atlas camp. There are several dozen tents, but only a few soldiers and a couple technicians. They come out to meet them, standing at attention.

"Hello! We were told to expect you. There were a lot more of us, but they went into the forest yesterday and never came back. We are working under the orders of General Wilde to help you," says one of the soldiers to team VNIS and Goodwitch.

"Really? How did he know we were coming here?" Goodwitch wonders. Sara looks away nervously. "Well, we could use the help I guess. I'll stay here and report to Professor Ozpin. You three enter the forest with the soldiers to begin the search. I'll join you shortly. And don't go too far. Don't go farther than a few hundred feet from the tree line." She turns around and pulls out a tablet type Scroll.

Team VNIS and the soldiers gather around. "Here, so we can communicate easily," a soldier says, passing out radios. "We'll use a modified version of the standard search pattern, with about triple the distance. Everyone will have about five Atlesian Knights with them. If any major threats are detected, call over the radios immediately." Everyone nods. "Okay, spread out!"

They spread out at intervals of thirty five feet, and then enter the forest. The soldiers enter first, then team VNIS. After the first soldier reaches a depth of about 280 feet, he calls in on his radio. Everyone stops, and then turns ninety degrees to the left. They walk for another few minutes, when a scream comes over the radio: "It's here! It appeared out of nowhere and attacked! Ahh!" The loud chatter of gunfire is heard, then a blood-curdling scream, and the sound of tearing flesh, a tight jerking sound, then a gurgle. Everyone rushes to the soldier's location.

Once there, in a large clearing with a huge lone tree in the center, they are all horrified at the scene. The robots lay scattered about, in irreparable pieces. The unfortunate soldier is dangling, lifeless from a tree. His arm is broken and slashed open, a red knife pinned into the ground, which trails a thick, black rope-like substance. Before their eyes, the knife explodes and the rope evaporates, and the soldier's corpse drops down. A humanoid figure walks towards them from the tree line, unarmed. The soldiers aim their guns, but Nicholas notices something.

"Wait, don't fire!" he screams as he runs to the soldiers. The figure wasn't in even a battle pose, and was walking toward them almost like a zombie. But it's too late. The soldiers open fire, unloading an entire clip each, for a total of 140 bullets. The dust settles, and the soldier look at their handiwork.

They're shocked to see a crumbling wall. It breaks down, red shards flying, homing in towards them, and embed themselves in the soldiers and explode, making it rain blood and guts. Valke steps forward, spear in hand, and snarls. The feral side has taken over.

The team drops into combat stances, and spread out around the clearing. Nick dashes into the trees, and Isabel circles around, surrounding Valke. Isabel and Sara both charge at Valke. Valke dodges under Isabel's scythe, then uses his spear shaft, now changed to a rope, to wrap around Sara's weapon, then pulls, launching the spear away. Sara is dragged toward him, off balance, and he punches her in the gut. As she collapses to the ground, Isabel takes a large uppercut swing, tearing up the ground. Valke jumps up, catching a tree branch, then swings on it, landing in the trees. Isabel starts to chase him, and Nicholas is still hiding, watching for an opportunity to strike. Valke turns, a tree obscuring him from Isabel's view. She turns at the tree as well, only to find he's not there. She walks cautiously, weapon out. A black and white blur passes by, and she swipes it its direction, but only cuts a medium sized tree down. Nick takes cover behind this, thanking luck for the new convenient cover. Just then, Valke dashes from the trees, tackling Isabel. His blade mounted on his arm, he draws back his arm, preparing to stab Isabel.

Sara had recovered quickly, and retrieved her weapon, then followed the path of trampled and torn flora. She sees Valke with his arm up, Isabel pinned beneath him. "No, stop!" Her eyes glow, and time slows down. She dashes to Valke and flips her spear around. Catching Valke's blade in the claw, she twists the spear, shattering it, then thrusts the spear into the ground, pinning it in the hole in Valke's skeletal arm. Time begins to flow normally again. "Nick, now!"

Surprised at how she got there so quickly, he nonetheless dashes toward Valke, flicking out a needle. He immediately stabs Valke in the neck, injecting a normally deadly poison. Valke roars, then grabs Sara's spear, pulling it from the ground. Tossing it aside, his tail whips around, cutting Sara lightly before she jumps back, then he elbow's Nicholas in the face, knocking him down. Valke runs off in the direction of the clearing.

The trio just stay there, attempting to catch their breath. "Hey, how did you get here so fast? You were a few yards away, then you just instantly appeared here," Nick questions.

"That was my semblance. It slows down time for a limited amount of time, about ten seconds."

A few minutes later, Goodwitch finds the soldiers' corpses, then calls Team VNIS. "Hello students. Where are you? Are you safe? Did you find him?"

Isabel answers: "Yes, professor, we're safe, barely. We found him and managed to inject the poison, but he ran. Where are you?"

"I'm where the soldiers died," she says, looking around in disgust.

"We're probably about a few hundred feet west of that. We're resting after the first fight. We have an idea of where he ran to. There's a large tree next to you right? That's probably where he is. He shouldn't attack, we beat him somewhat, and he didn't attack us until the soldiers attacked first."

Professor Goodwitch looks at the tree. "Alright, I'll come find you, and then we'll finish this."

A few minutes later, team VNIS hears rustling, and Professor Goodwitch approaches. She looks at them, and then looks away, satisfied that they are not majorly injured. "It's almost noon. You should eat before the next fight, or you'll run out of energy. Here," she says, passing them supplies from the ship. They eat with gusto, hungry and excited to finish the mission. After a few minutes, they finish their light meal, then grab their weapons, rested and ready to fight.

* * *

Meanwhile, Valke is in the large tree, which is hollow. He feels slow and sluggish. His sentient side is fuming inside: " _Those stupid Atlas soldiers. I was trying to control myself, but they shot first, so the feral side gained control again_. _They probably did it on purpose too_ ," he thinks, remembering the video he had found in the ruins the day his village was annihilated.

 _Atlas soldiers are guarding a compound. The cameraman passes by them, showing them an ID. As he passes, they salute. He enters a building resembling the ruins. There is a long hallway with many doors. As he passes by, some doors open and scientists go in and out of them. At the end of the hall is a large, reinforced door, with a pair of guards, who also salute. The door opens, and the cameraman enters. Inside is a lab table with restraints, a female reaper strapped to it in human form. She has red eyes and black hair like all the reapers, save for a red stripe going down the left side of her face. A masked scientist is putting an earring on her left ear. It's black with red gems in it. At first, she gains sentience, looking around, asking where she is, but then red lightning sparks, and she shifts into Grimm form._

 _"Hold her down!" the scientist says, grabbing a syringe. A robot grabs the Reaper's arm, where the scientists injects a powerful anesthetic, making the woman fall asleep and revert to human form. "Damn, another failed one. Why can't I get this right!" he slams his fist on a table. "Every time I fail, one of these Reapers is mentally injured. I need to perfect this in as few tests as possible," he says pulling off his mask. The masked scientist is Professor Ozpin._

 _"Ozpin, calm down. I understand that you want them to be able to live among us, but they're just-" the cameraman speaks._

 _"No! Don't even finish that sentence. They are sentient, they have feelings, and dreams, and emotions. They just need help to express it, take over the feral side. But I can't hurt all of them while doing it." He looks at the cameraman. "Doctor Wilde, do you have any idea what the value of life is?"_

The video had ended there. He had tracked down Ozpin, intending to find out who Wilde was, when tragedy had struck a half year before he went to Beacon, and he lost another loved one…

Suddenly, the feral side jerks awake, standing up. The team was back, with Professor Goodwitch. " _No, stay away. I have no grudge against you all!_ " The feral side stands up and struggles to summon its spear. It blends into the shadows inside the tree, spear held in the hunter position, ready to throw. The party of four enter, searching within the dark, when Nick turns and looks directly at Valke, pulls out his knife, then fires a hidden gun straight at him. Valke rolls out of the way, revealing his position. Isabel pulls out her rifle and shoots, forcing him to stay mobile, barely escaping the bullets. Nick dashes in front of him, then flips Valke over, onto his back. Valke stabs at him, trying to break free. Nick jumps free and Sara rushes in. She stabs Valke in the chest, but is surprised to feel mostly air, only scraping hard bone. Pinned to the tree, he cuts himself and attempts to form a bladed ring to throw, but is interrupted by Goodwitch breaking part of the tree and sending the fragments toward him as several small spears. They pierce him and he falters, his blood dropping to the ground, still black.

"Mister Rich, put him to sleep."

"Roger." Nick pulls out a blue needle, then stabs him in the neck, opposite of where the poison had been injected. Valke thrashes, then goes limp, slowly reverting to human form. Sara quickly removes her spear, and he drops to the ground.

A few minutes later, he's back in human form. They all look, now that he's not in his cloak. "Wow. He's actually pretty handsome," Sara blurts. They all look at her. "What? I'm not lying." They find his necklace and put the chip into it. When they do, green sparks run down his body for a few seconds, then the gems in both necklace and chips turn green.

"Hey, what's that on his hand?" Isabel asks, noticing a black ring on his left hand.

"Children, we should get going. We'll load onto the airship, tell the remaining Atlas members to leave, then return to Beacon," Goodwitch says. They lift Valke up and move him over to the camp.

They return to the camp to find it empty. The walk over to the airship, then load Valke into it, putting him several seats, lying down. "Let's look for traces of the technicians." They leave and head back to the camp.

"Are they gone?" a technician peaks around a crate in the ship.

"Yeah, I think so. So this is the boy, huh? That means the soldiers failed. We need to complete the mission," the other one says, pulling out a thin, long knife. He walks up to Valke and prepares to strike, but Valke wakes up, grabs him, then pulls a long, thin string from the metal circle on his glove, wrapping it around the assassin, then kicks the other one, who had pulled out a gun. Knocking out the first one, he kicks the gun away from the other one then ties him up as well.

The other four come back to see Valke waiting outside. "Hey. Any of you guys have rope?" They look at him weird, so he walks inside, beckoning to them. They see the two technicians, and the weapons they had used. "They tried to kill me, so I knocked them out and tied them up. We need some rope though; it's more intimidating than my string, and hurts more too." They pull out some rope from a crate. "That works."

* * *

The technicians wake up half-way to Beacon, to see all of our heroes holding their weapons. "You're going to tell us what you were ordered to do, or I'll let these students do whatever they want to you," Professor Goodwitch threatens. The students all take a step closer, an evil glint in their eyes.

"Eep! Okay, I'll talk! We were ordered by General Wilde to head to this area and kill a boy being sought after by students from Beacon Academy. We were told he was not human and highly dangerous, and to shoot on sight. That's where most of the soldiers went; they were supposed to kill him before you all arrived, but never came back."

"Well, they're gone: torn in tiny little shreds or the animals to eat… If I didn't eat them already," Valke says, emotionlessly. "My feral side loves eating human hearts you know. It says their tough yet tasty." He grins maniacally then walks way, then the other follow him.

In the seating area, away from the new prisoners, they sit down. Valke leans back and closes his eyes; Nick pulls some supplies from a small box, and begins refilling his needles. Sara looks out the window, deep in thought, while Isabel stares at Valke. After a few minutes: "Hey, Valke? What's that ring on your hand?"

Valke's eyes dart open, and he looks at his left hand. On his ring finger is a ring. It's silver, with a thinner black crystal ring in the center as the decoration. Around the black ring, between the silver and the crystal, is a red substance. His eyes get a sad look, obviously remembering a memory. He then pulls it off and passes it around.

"What's this red on here? It looks almost like…" Nick asks.

"Blood? Yeah, that's what it is…" Valke closes his eyes and looks down, returning the ring to his finger. "This ring… is from my late fiancée. It's also my keepsake. That blood is hers." He leans back again. "I'll tell you the entire story back at Beacon." He dozes off, not saying anything else for the rest of the trip.

 _ **Hello, Valkerix here. So, I want to ask any readers about what you want. Do you want a darker ending, or a happier ending to this eventually? Should Valke help RWBY and JNPR and friends, or Salem and the other villains? Please leave a review with your vote.**_


	6. Chapter 6: History Begins

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 6

Team VNIS, now complete, is on the way to Beacon when they see the city being attacked by Grimm. They grab their weapons, except Valke, whose weapon is still at the school, and all four walk over to the edge of the ship, about to jump out, but Goodwitch stops them. "Wait! Look at yourselves; you're in no condition to fight." They look at each other. Nick has a large bruise on his face, Isabel probably has a few cracked ribs, and Sara has a large bruise on her stomach, and a small cut on her face, right below her right eye. Valke is outwardly okay, save a few scars, but still has some poison in him, slowing him down. "Besides, General Ironwood brought his army for a reason, and there are plenty of students. In fact, team CFVY is arriving now." The look outside and see team CFVY jumping out of an airship with Professor Port, then decimating hordes of Grimm.

" _Really glad my feral side fought them in an enclosed space, or I would probably be dead right now…_ " Valke thinks. He then sees a familiar person walk away. " _Is that…? No, probably not_."

"We'll return to Beacon, then I'll return here to help. You will all report to the infirmary. No arguing." Grumbling, they all return to their seats.

The day after, when Valke had the poison out of his system, he went to go see Ozpin in his office. Ozpin was expecting him of course, being Ozpin and knowing almost everything. "Hello sir. I have some extra information about the criminals. The White Fang are involved, and working with Roman Torchwick. They all answer to a woman with fiery eyes, and have some very strong fighters. They also have a source inside Atlas, as they have those new Atlesian Paladin mechs that General Ironwood brought in."

"I'll have Ironwood look into it. Is that all, young man?"

"…Thank you sir. For sending them to save me… and also allowing my kind to masquerade as humans. And for this upgraded suppression system as well," Valke says, fingering his necklace with his gloved hand. He looks out the window. "You know, I came here to get revenge, because I thought everyone but myself had secrets and intentions of ill-intent towards me. But now I know otherwise. I'll settle for my original purpose for tracking you down." He looks back at Ozpin. "Who the hell is Wilde? I've heard he's one of the last survivors of the project, and I saw a video in the ruins of what I assume is your lab."

"If you want to know who Wilde is, ask your teammate, Miss Blume. She has a very close relationship with him. He's her legal guardian." Valke laughs and turns to leave.

Valke returns to his team's dorm room, where Sara and Nick are staying. Isabel did indeed have cracked ribs and is in the infirmary right now. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Nick asks, since Valke still doesn't sleep in the dorm room.

"Can you leave? I have to talk to Sara. It will only be a short while." Nick nods and gets up to leave.

"What's up?" Sara asks.

"Your guardian, Wilde. Who is he? It's personal."

"General Wilde? He works for Atlas. He runs the Science and Technology Department. After my parents died soon after my birth, he adopted me. He's like my father. So I can't believe that he would have sent soldiers to kill you…"

"He was involved in the Reaper Project." She looks at Valke, not believing him. "Five years ago, on the day a group of Atlas soldiers came and killed my entire village except me, I found a video in some ruins. It showed Ozpin working on these devices, and he was talking to someone named Wilde, who completely disregarded the lives of the test subjects. It made me especially mad to see the video because the Reaper being experimented on was my mother. I finally understood why she was so different, mentally. She was mentally broken in the experiment, and Wilde completely disregarded her sacrifice, and countless others!"

"But… he's not a bad person…"

Valke looks at her with anguish in his eyes. "I can't trust you on that. But if he means that much to you, I won't kill him." He turns and leaves. Seeing Nick in the hallway, he takes a deep breath. "Nick, come here."

"Yeah?"

"In a few days, when Isabel gets out of the infirmary, come to the city, in the central square. Bring anybody who shows interest in why I'm so anti-social… except team CRDL. They're just a bunch of jerks." Valke walks away, thinking about what he had just gotten himself into.

The day Isabel got out was only two days before the Vytal Festival Tournament, and several hundred students from the other four schools had come to Beacon. He is in the city, at the central square where anybody could find him, since he wasn't sure where he wanted to go today. "Hey, Valke!" yells Sara.

He turns, and finds a much larger group than he expected. All of his team is there of course, and Velvet he expected, and Nora as well because she was pretty nosy. But also there are the rest of team JNPR, the girl in the beret, Coco, from team CFVY, team RWBY, and Glynda Goodwitch. Others include two people who team RWBY appears to have dragged along, a monkey Faunus and a boy in a red jacket with blue hair, and some students from Haven academy, a grey haired boy and a green haired, dark skinned girl.

Sighing, he knows right where to go with such a large amount of people. "Alright, follow me." He turns and heads toward a rundown, half abandoned part of town. He opens a door to an old warehouse, and ushers them inside, closing the door. Inside, it is pitch black until he flips a switch halfway across the warehouse. Inside is a training ring with several robots, as well as a few punching bags, training dummies shaped like humans, several targets for guns and archery, and an old martial arts training dummy, one of the wooden ones with the pegs sticking out, and a large stack of empty cans, plastic jugs, and cardboard cartons. But the most impressive thing is the collection of weapons. There are swords of nearly every variety, shields as well. A scythe, several spears and other pole arms, a staff, an old European lance, axes of all varieties, and a variety of odd weapons, such as chakrams and chained kama. Aside is a rack full of ranged weaponry, including throwing knives, several bows of different varieties, and several guns of all types, but mainly handguns, sniper rifles, and submachine guns.

"Wow. What is this place?" Sara asks.

"This is-" Valke begins to reply, but is cut off by a red flash, as Ruby dashes over to the weapons, immediately gushing over them.

"Ooh, there are so many weapons!" She browses quickly over the weapons, most of which are plain, but efficient, then goes over to the guns. She gasps, and then lists off the most customized ones: "That's a P90, and that's an MP-5, and a Bizon! And a PSG-1 and a Mosin Nagant! And an XM8 and a G-36, and a CAW shotgun. And that's a Mk-23 Socom…"

Valke looks back towards the rest of them. "This is where I stayed during the week I was out on a mission for Professor Ozpin. I had a bunch of weapons here already, so I converted it into a training gym. This is the only place I know where so many of us can fit and I can tell you all the entire story." He walks over to the ring, where there are several mats on the ground. He gestures for them to sit on the mats, and climbs into the ring, sitting over the edge facing them. "Ruby! If you don't want to miss the story, get over here! I'll give you a tour of whatever weapons you want later!" She dashes over to sit with the others. "Okay, now that that's done, I suppose it's story time. Well, first, you should all know that I've been alone since I was twelve, after corrupt Atlas soldiers killed everyone in my village and burned it to the ground for being less than human five years ago. Only one person ever came into my life after that. That was my late fiancée. We met two years ago, in a city in western Mistral. I was kind of a mercenary, and she was a pickpocket…

Valke is walking down a somewhat broken down street, dressed in a black long sleeve shirt, a purple vest with several pokets, and green camouflage pants. He has no gloves on, and wears black leather combat boots. A holster at his right hip holds a Five-seveN handgun, and a large knife is strapped to his belt on the right side. A smaller knife is on his chest, for his left hand, which he had emulated from _Metal Gear Solid 3_ , a video game he had considerable skill in. On his back is a small pack with whatever supplies he hadn't used, and a few reusable supplies. He's returning from the outskirts of town, where he had been doing a job tracking down and exterminating a pack of Beowolves. He passes by one of the many alleyways, only about six blocks from his apartment, when he feels a slight touch on his right pocket, where a simple black leather wallet sticks out, ever so slightly, off place from where he had put it. He turns around, grabs the pickpocket's arm, and slams them against the nearby wall, pinning them there. He takes a look at the would-be pickpocket. She's a wolf Faunus with long moon white hair and ears. She has pale skin and a few scars and a bruise on her face. Dressed in rags, her skin is cold, especially considering that it's a fairly warm day. Valke sniffs, finding the faint scent of blood and alcohol staining her. Assuming that she doesn't drink because she can't afford it, combined with the other information, he assumes that there are probably some people pulling the strings here.

He releases her, flashing a small smirk. "I'm not going to hurt you. If you want a better chance at life, follow me." He walks off, and she reluctantly follows him. He pulls a grey cloak from his pack, handing it to her, which she takes immediately, putting it on and breathing in relief at the warmth it provides. A few minutes later, they arrive at where he wanted to go. He gestures her inside a spa, owned by an elderly couple who he had chased off some gangsters for. He pays them and the employees whisk the girl off for half an hour. Meanwhile, Valke is standing next to the window, facing inwards, looking at a mirror, using it to look at the street. He sees two men, who seem to have an interest in the spa. The taller one is thin and dressed in a long trench coat, with a cowboy hat, while the other one is of average height, grossly muscular, and wears a t-shirt and jeans. The girl is brought back out just after Valke commits every detail of the men to temporary memory. She is bathed and was given a haircut, revealing her greenish-yellow eyes, and giving her a somewhat stunning look. Valke looks away, towards the place the men had been standing, but they had moved.

Valke grabs the girls hand, thanks the employees, then walks out, toward a clothing shop owned by a man who had tried threatening Valke at first, until Valke roughed him up, and they became good friends. Valke looks at the girl. "Pick two sets of clothes. Price is irrelevant right now." He walks over to the counter, where his friend is working.

The friend has brown hair and brown eyes. "Hey Valke. Who's your guest?" he asks, eyeing her.

"Just a pickpocket I'm helping out." Valke glances outside. "Hey, are there two men outside watching us? One's tall, wearing a trench coat, thinks he's a cowboy, the other is overly muscular and dressed casually."

"Yup, looks like there's a pair of men fitting that description. Want them scared off?"

"No, it'll be fine. I may not look intimidating at first, but try saying that at the business end of a gun with a black eye."

The man laughs. "It certainly frightened me!"

The girl walks up, holding a blue long-sleeve shirt with a moon and stars on it, a plain pair of jeans, and a white leather belt. The other outfit is a skirt that probably goes down to about her knees, and another long-sleeve shirt, both light blue. She also has a jacket with a hood, which is white with yellow accents, a pack of white socks, a pair of sneakers, and two sets of underwear (I'm NOT describing these). She's almost falling over because of the amount of stuff she's carrying. Chuckling, Valke walks over and takes half of the clothes, then places them on the counter. His friend rings them all up.

"That'll be 200 Lien, with a good Samaritan's discount," he says, smiling.

"Gods, clothes really cost a lot don't they? I haven't bought clothes in forever…" He hands over several Lien cards, grabs the three large bags, then heads for the door. "See you later Alex!"

Valke, holding the girl's hand again, walks the remaining ten blocks to his apartment, his original destination. He enters the large building, and enters the elevator. He pushes the fourth story button. On the fourth floor, he walks all the way to the end of the right hallway, then enters the door on his left. Inside is a small kitchen, with a refrigerator and freezer unit, electric stove, a microwave, and a sink of course. A small table sits just outside the kitchen. Past the table is a room with a bed, a large TV, a desk and a chair, a sliding door leading to a balcony, and a small closet. Next to the bed is a door leading to a bathroom. Under the TV is a DVD player, several game systems, and a large collection of games. On the desk is a monitor, hooked up to a powerful gaming computer. Valke waves his guest over to the table, and then puts the bags on the seemingly unused bed. He walks to the kitchen, where he pulls out a plastic container, which he then puts in the microwave for a few minutes. Meanwhile, he goes to the closet, takes off his weapon, puts them on the desk, then takes off his vest, hangs it up, then changes his shirt to a purple t-shirt. The microwave finishes, and he move back to the kitchen, pulling out two bowls. He fills them with soup from the container.

"Here," he says, placing a bowl in front of the girl, along with a spoon. "This is leftover from last night. Sorry it's not freshly cooked, but I figured this was the best choice for now. She takes a sip, then eats with gusto, finishing it off instantly. "I guess that means it was pretty good, huh?" Valke laughs. "It's getting dark. Any time you want to go to sleep, you can use the bed. I don't use it." She looks guilty, and somewhat cautious. "I get it. You don't trust me. But I'm a lot better option than those guys who were following us, right?" She nods. "Anyways, I have to go turn in a job. I'll be back soon." As he walks out, he thinks: " _She hasn't said a single word yet… Is she a mute_?"

Outside, he calls someone. "Yeah, it's me. I finished the job, but something came up. Just wire the payment to my account… Thanks." He hangs up, then climbs up the tall building adjacent to his apartment room. On the roof, he sits down and waits pulling out a small throwing knife. He sets a custom made scroll on the roof next to him, then starts spinning the knife with his left hand, flipping it between his fingers, tapping the blade to spin it back and forth, sometimes toward his knuckles, sometimes to his fingertips. As the patterns get more complex, he starts flipping his hand over, still juggling the knife. Several minutes pass by, when the scroll starts to vibrate. Immediately stopping the knife, he pockets it and the scroll, then pulls out a grapple hook from a hidden storage closet on a nearby AC. He throws it, and it lands perfectly on the balcony to the apartment above his. He grips the rope, then slides down to his balcony door, which he had secretly opened before he had left. He lets go of the rope at the precise place which would allow him to roll into his apartment. Doing this, he takes out the knife, and stabs it into a boot, piercing the foot inside, and pinning it to the floor. As Valke stands up, he elbows the wannabe cowboy, then grabs the revolver at the thug's waist, aiming it at the muscle-man. As he pulls back the hammer on the guns, he grapples one-handed with the cowboy, which results in Valke holding him in a choke hold.

"Stop right there. I won't hesitate to shoot should you so much as sneeze," Valke threatens the other intruder.

"Who… are … you…?" the cowboy asks. Valke tightens his grip.

"Look, Jim. I'm gonna call you Jim, by the way. Jim, this is my apartment. Who I AM doesn't matter. What does is that you are trespassing, and I have an understanding with the local police chief, alright? So you and Muscles over there can shut up and go down peacefully, injured, or dead." He looks at 'Muscles'. "So, what will it be?"

Muscles charges, drawing a machete. "Basta-"

Valke responds by kicking an empty game case in the air, knocking the machete into a wall, then knocks out 'Jim'. He then rushes over to his desk, where his weapons still lay, and grabs the long knife. Drawing it, it is revealed to be a matte black combat knife, with no serration and is mainly one-sided, with a small false edge, and blood channels for quick stabbing. As Muscles tries to dislodge his blade, Valke runs up, then slams him in the gut, easily transmitting his power through the iron muscles of the ruffian. He then spins, slashing open a long wound along the forearm of the man's right arm. Valke walks over to the man, who is now on the ground, in pain. He slowly steps on the man's left knee, gradually applying more pressure.

Valke pulls out his scroll. "Let's see if the police will save you before I crush your knee." He dials the emergency services and requests a police vehicle to pick up two criminals guilty of breaking and entering.

A few minutes away from permanently crippling the man's knee, a police siren arrives outside the building, and a minute later there is a knock at the door. "You got lucky, punk." He kicks the man unconscious. He walks over to the door. "Hello officer. You can stow your weapons. They're out cold. I'll help you move them to your vehicle."

Valke does so, and when he returns, he sees his guest is awake. " _Shoot._ " He looks at her. "How long have you been awake?"

She stares at him, and just before he turns away to clean the blood, she responds: "Since you had the gun aimed at the big muscle guy." Her voice is quiet, and somewhat broken sounding, but at the same time, very vibrant.

"Hey, you talk!" Valke walks over to her smiling. "You're not scared?"

She shakes her head. "No. If you took them out, you can probably protect me, right?" She looks away. "They picked on me for being a Faunus. I couldn't stop them. They would beat me, get drunk, then beat me even more. They say they're from a gang from the capital."

Valke pats her on the head. "Well, I can't just leave you to the sharks, can I? I'll protect you from anything I can. And feel free to stay as long as you like." He walks over to the bathroom, deciding to take a shower.

After the shower, he walks out, a towel around his waist. He walks over to the closet and rummages around for some clothes. "Like what you see?" He teases as he turn around, having pulled out a pair of underpants, a dark red shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants.

"Eep!" The girl looks away, a blush visible on her face in the moonlight streaming in from the open sliding door.

Chuckling, Valke walks back into the bathroom to change, emerging a minute later. He walks over to the balcony, and is about to step outside when he hears a mumble. Turning around, he asks: "What was that?"

"Can you sleep with me?"

It's Valke's turn to blush, as he looks away. "Um… that's a little uncomfortable for me."

She blushes as well. "I don't mean in the bed. Just stay in here. Please?"

Sighing, Valke nods his head. "Fine, though that's not the problem. I'll find some way to fall asleep in here, though I typically sleep outside." He pulls a chair from the dining area, and places it next to the bed. He sits down and a few minutes later, the girl falls asleep after crawling closer to Valke. " _I never got her name did I_? _Oh well, I'll find out tomorrow._ " And he slowly falls asleep, a rare occurrence for him indoors.

The next day, Valke wakes up to find the girl hugging his arm. " _I don't remember the chair being so close to the bed._ " Sure enough, he had moved the chair in his sleep. He shakes the girl. "Hey, wake up. Wake up. Wake up!" Startled, she jerks awake, and jumps away from him until remembering where she is. "I never caught your name yesterday. Will you tell me now?"

"I- it's Selyn. Nice to meet you…?"

Valke face-palms. "Of course! Sorry. I'm Valke. Nice to meet you Selyn." He gets up to brush his teeth, and generally get prepared for the day. He walks out to find Selyn getting dressed. They make eye contact, and he quickly steps back into the bathroom closing the door. "Sorry!"

A few minutes later, she knocks and says: "I'm dressed now."

Valke exits to see her wearing the jeans and the night sky patterned shirt. He walks over to the kitchen for breakfast. "What do you want to eat?" She shrugs, so he just pulls out a jug of milk and two bowls with spoons, then some cereal. He eats quickly while she savors it. He loads the bowl and spoon into the dishwasher and walks over to the bed, where he sits at the foot of it, then starts up his _Playstation 2_ system. The game starts up, playing a peaceful classical style piece of music." He selects the 'Load Game' option, then selects the third file. She walks over.

"What's this?" Selyn asks, looking at the TV. He is fighting a mob of black, stubby monsters with glowing yellow eyes and antennae.

"A game called _Kingdom Hearts 2_ , one of my favorite games out there. Wanna try playing?" She nods, so he gives a quick tutorial on the basic buttons and attack options.

"So, now you all know the beginning. Let's take a break. Who wants to spar?" Almost everyone raises their hand. "Alright then, decide who's first." Weiss steps up. "Okay… let's see here…" He walks over to the weapon rack and pulls out a rapier as Weiss calls her locker from Beacon. He returns to the ring, assuming a ready stance, feet apart, right shoulder facing Weiss, the blade held out diagonally, the tip at the height of Valke's eye.

 **Guest: I won't be creating pairings using characters from the original series, especially with Valke. If you'd like, I'll make a side story that is a collection of alternate universe stories for my story, but don't expect any smut or lemons or whatever. Not for at least two years. I have no experience with that stuff at all.**

 **The Burning Ruler: Thanks a lot! It'll probably be a happy ending because so far I have one vote for each side, but I have one more friend to ask, who'll probably vote happy. Do I really write well? 'Cause I didn't learn to actually write until fourth grade because before that I went to a special school. :) (By the way, everybody check out his stories, such as RWBY: a Demon's Life, cause he's really good at writing, and he pairs his character with characters from the series.) [By the way, I'm gonna basically borrow your character for my team's Vytal Festival Tournament match.]**


	7. Chapter 7: A Shattered Moon

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.) Re-uploaded to remove lyrics.**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 7

Weiss summons her white speed glyphs, surging towards Valke at barely sub-sonic speed. He sidesteps, using the rapier to deflect her attack. It stops at her guard, and he flips the sword, then spins, attempting to slash at her back, but she back flips, dodging the strike. Now at close quarters, she unleashes a series of lunges and thrusts. Valke blocks with sweeping motions, knocking each blow away, until she aims for his forehead. He does a backwards cartwheel, kicking her weapon up, and dashes forward, unleashing a flurry of sweeping cuts from every direction, and ends with a thrust, his blade at her throat.

Weiss walks away in defeat. The others clap as Yang steps up. Valke defeats her using martial arts, and defeats almost all the others: Ruby with a scythe, Blake with duel swords, Nora using a mace, Ren with twin daggers, the monkey, Sun, with a bo staff, and the green haired girl, Emerald, with a chained kama.

Finally, Pyrrha steps up. Being a world renowned fighter, Valke picks a weapon he has great experience with: a large-bladed spear. He takes a semi-crouched stance, the spear held in his right hand, close to the spearhead, the end of the shaft behind his left shoulder.

Pyrrha charges, and Valke spins the spear and slashes, parrying her strike. He then uses the butt of the spear to deflect her incoming shield-bash. Valke then counters with a thrust, and Pyrrha dodges out of the way. He chains with a flurry of stabs, then release the spear when drawing t back, re-gripping it in the middle of the shaft. He lunges forward, and she blocks with her shield. He attempts to punch her in the stomach, but she jumps away and throws her shield. He dodges it and rushes her, not seeing the glowing black aura around the shield. It hits him in the back of the head, and he adjusts by planting the spear on the ground, lifting himself up off the ground, andkicks Pyrrha in the chest. She falls to the ground, and he prepares to stab her once he recovers, but she presses a rifle to his abdomen, stopping him. Slowly, he steps back and approaches his weapons, storing the spear, and then starts clapping.

"Pyrrha here, as expected, is the most prepared out of all of you. But even she's not strong enough to stop all the enemies that you will fight. Not alone. My team," he gestures to Nick, Isabel, and Sara, "have already defeated an enemy I could not. Myself." He picks up a knife, then stabs his left forearm, where there is no sleeve. The black tendrils of blood form, and he coats his face in blood. He becomes the Reaper once again. He speaks, his voice still growling and raspy, but no longer echoic: "I wouldn't show you all this, but it's important to the story. I'll be right back." He steps outside, where it has started to rain. Once the people unfamiliar with his Reaper form have recovered, he returns in human form, soaked from the heavy rain outside.

He returns to the ring. "Let's continue the story then."

Over the next month, Valke introduced Selyn to more videogames, as well as music, the Cross Continental Transmit System, TV, books, movies, and even taught her how to cook. Luckily, she had been taught to read and write by an educated beggar when she was six. She had taken a particular liking to _Kamen Rider Kiva_ , and the band for the show, Tetra-Fang. She also had a high talent for singing, and had been learning songs like crazy. She had become much more sociable and outspoken as well. A month after they had met, Valke is returning home from a two-day mission, which he was getting paid a ton of Lien for. When he opens the door, he is greeted by a familiar song from _Kingdom Hearts_.

 _Play Simple and Clean_ by Utada Hikaru (Recommend the mix of _Simple and Clean_ and _Sanctuary_ by Amalee)

When the song ends, Valke looks at Selyn, who was the one singing, of course. She walks over to Valke and hugs him. "I love you," she says with a blush.

Valke smiles and looks down at her, returning the hug. He begins to sing:

 _Play This Love Never Ends_ by Kouhei Takeda (nizz00EX on YouTube has a good English subbed version.)

"I love you too. I think I have ever since I met you. That's probably one of the reasons why I helped you." He lifts his right hand to her head, which is at her shoulder, and starts petting her hair, which is cut to her neck in the back, with a slight outward curve at the end, and in the front she has short bangs and small groups of hair in front of her human ears, which go down to the height of the bottom of her eyes.

Suddenly, he grins and pokes one of her wolf ears, which are oddly sensitive. She jumps back and goes stiff. "Hey, that's not very nice." She puts on a pouty face. "You ruined the mood, too."

Valke laughs. "Sorry, but it was a perfect opportunity, and I couldn't resist."

Selyn glares at you and grins. "That's okay. I beat all your records in _Taiko: Drum Masters_ and in Atlantis in _Kingdom hearts 2_ while you were gone."

"WHAT!? Dang it Moon, I really envy your rhythm skills, despite how good mine are already." Realizing his mistake, he claps a hand over his mouth.

"What did you call me?" Selyn asks, poking him.

"I… I called you Moon." He looks away, rubbing his neck. "That's my name for you inside my head. 'Cause you're like a moon in the dark night sky of my life."

"Okay!" She smiles and gets a thoughtful face. "Then… you're Eclipse, because you protect me from the world, like the Earth's shadow does the moon during an Eclipse."

Over the next year, Selyn becomes much more courageous, and becomes a mildly famous Faunus Equality activist, with Valke supporting her from the shadows. Of course, her beauty and personality caused several Faunus and even a few humans to propose, despite her only being fifteen. This leads to a rather interesting conversation.

"So, another guy proposed to me as I was leaving the meet today."

"And?" Valke asks smiling.

"I said no, of course."

"Of course. You're my Moon, no one else can have you while we're together."

Selyn giggles. "But, it got me thinking. Having guys propose to me all the time it annoying, so how about… you and I get engaged?"

Valke just freezes and blinks. Selyn waves his hand in front of his face. "Hello? Eclipse-kun? Anybody there?"

Valke shakes his head and starts tearing up. "Do you really mean that?"

She hugs him. "Of course. I will always love you."

"In that case, of course. I would love to get engaged." They fall asleep in each other's arms that night, happier than they had ever been before.

The next day, they go shopping for rings at a jeweler that Valke had helped by stopping some robbers during a heist. Selyn picks a silver band with a smaller ring of purple Tanzanite, because it reminds her of an eclipse.

Valke however, had already wanted to gift her a ring, and the shop owner pulls out a custom ring: a gold band with lines of silver forming a hollow wolf head, with the eyes being glittering peridots. Both return home happily, having spent just over 3,000 Lien.

At her next speech, Selyn announces the engagement, prompting several failed suitors to hunt Valke down, but they never find him, of course. Meanwhile, Valke makes plans to move to Vale so he can attend Beacon, and Selyn would still be close to him. The wedding was planned for after Valke's first year at Beacon, when he would eighteen and she would be seventeen.

To great sorrow, it was not to be. Half a year from the day they were to move, the police chief is murdered, and a new, corrupt one takes his place. He releases several criminals belonging to the gang that had bullied Selyn, the Red Rooks.

Valke had been away on a mission for two weeks, protecting the Mistral Regional Tournament, as he had the two previous years. As expected, Pyrrha Nikos had won again. He had also found the Red Rooks' local headquarters.

He opens the apartment door, to be greeted by the sole sound of a dripping liquid. He cautiously enters, and what he finds inside chills him to the core, his soul torn and devastated. Selyn hangs by her arms from the ceiling, naked, with innumerable cuts and bruises all over her body. Her blood has pooled on the floor, and a message is written in blood on the wall: "Run away, or you're next, freak! With hate- Jim and Muscles"

Valke starts breathing heavily, and walks over to Selyn, cutting the rope. Her corpse drops to the ground, and he collapses, wrapping his arms around her, soaking himself in her blood. He starts sobbing uncontrollably, for the broken future, for his weakness, and for Selyn, who had trusted him to protect him. "I'm so sorry… I wasn't there to protect you when you needed me! I'm a failure again! Damn it!"

He looks at the message on the wall, and feels uncontrollable rage overtake him. He kisses Selyn for the last time, then picks up his large knife with his blood soaked left hand. The blood had seeped into the ring, causing the purple crystal to appear black. He stabs his right arm several times, shifting to Reaper form. He stands up. "So excessive rage lets me control the Reaper form? Perfect." He exits onto the roof and starts running. "Now to find a member of the Red Rooks."

Valke found one in a bar, drunk and causing problems for everyone. He's kicked out and starts stumbling away. Valke approaches him from the shadows and drags him into an alley. The gangster tries to fight back, but is too drunk to do much. Valke slits his throat, blood splashing on the walls of the alley. He then thrusts a clawed hand into the man's chest, tearing through skin, muscle, and bone, until grasping the man's heart. He pulls the still beating organ out, and rips a large chunk out with his needle-like teeth. The heart bursts, filling his mouth with warm, metallic blood. He drops the remains of the tough organ and walks away, as he morphs into the appearance of the now dead man.

Valke approaches an old solitary abandoned building, still in disguise, and pretending to be severely intoxicated. "Hey there Ian! Been hitting the clubs again?" a man standing next to the doors of the building asks. Valke mumbles something indistinguishable. "What was that?"

"I said that YOU CAN DIE!" He summons his weapon in scythe mode, and decapitates the guard, then bisects the body vertically, the blood and organs spilling out as the pieces hit the ground. Valke walks over to the large doors, and kicks them down, no longer in disguise.

"Who the h- WHAT IS THAT?! KILL IT NOW!" A shirtless man in a fur coat smoking a cigar says from the back. Several men with Uzis, Mac-10s, and various handguns surround Valke. They open fire, and Valke dodges to the right. He makes the scythe disappear and summons several rows of spikes along his arms from the wounds he did sustain from the bullets. He rushes the nearest assailant, and stabs him with a spike, pinning him to a wall. The man is bleeding, fatally wounded, but painfully and slowly dying. He repeats this for all the gunmen, and their screams can be heard all across town. He finishes, all the gunmen on the floor, the walls, even the furniture, wailing in pain. The remaining gangsters, panicking, run around and try to escape.

"You can't run! Garden of Shadow!" A circle of blood around the building creates a dome, preventing escape and attacking anyone outside the building, but within the dome. The song _Payback_ by Slayer starts playing on the radio. (Warning, violent song. If you don't want to listen to that, _Pain Redefined_ by Disturbed also works.) He then tears through the building. The fighters die slowly, receiving the same treatment as the previous combatants. The smart ones and the cowards die fast, their throats slit, decapitated, or their organs pulled out, bones, pulverized, eyes plucked out or even sliced into pieces. Eventually, all that remains is the boss and the few innocents.

The boss crawls away, trembling. "Wha- what do you want? Money? Drugs? Women? You can have anything!"

"Fool. I'm just here to avenge a moon now shattered." Valke picks up a chain and craps it around the boss' neck. Tethering the chain to a wall, giving the gangster just enough room to breathe, Valke summons a storm of blade shaped like ravens to surround the man. They cut him, slowly enough to cause pain, but fast enough that he won't die of blood loss before the first bones are exposed. "Nevermore, shall you harm anyone." He walks over to the innocents. They're obviously prostitutes, most of them Faunus, some human, drugged and dressed in the skimpiest clothing imaginable. "Go. You're all innocent. I won't hurt you." They run, the barrier dispelled. One, a young fox Faunus looks back to see him collapsing and crying again, a demon, broken amongst a landscape of blood and gore. He returns to the apartment and packs whatever belongings he wanted to keep. He sleeps on the roof that night, for the first time in two years.

The next day, the new police chief is at the door to arrest Valke. He just ignores the buffoon, walking past him. Outside is the building is the entire population of the town. Alex approaches Valke.

"You're leaving, huh?" Valke nods. "Here. A little something from the townsfolk. They wanted to give it to you when you left for Vale but early is better than never, right?" He hands over the weapon set that Valke uses in the present. "… It's a shame about Selyn. May you find peace where you go, and find a way to repair your shattered soul."

"Hey! I said you're under arrest!" The jerk of a police chief walks out of the building, gun drawn. Valke walks away, still ignoring the man. Enraged, he fires a burst of three bullets, all hitting Valke in the right shoulder, causing that arm to go limp. Valke, broken, doesn't even shift into Reaper form, the black blood oozing onto the asphalt, then disappearing into the air. Alex begins to walk over to him, but Valke waves him away with his left hand. The townsfolk flood the police chief, and he is arrested.

Alex looks to Valke's retreating figure. "There goes a man lifted to the sky, only to be burned by the demons of jealousy and rage. May no more sorrow befall him."

"After that, I wandered Mistral until the time came to come here. I killed whatever criminals I met, saved the victims of war, the Grimm, criminals. But I never settled anywhere. You know the rest."

Everyone is stunned, afraid, and slightly disgusted. He could tell for the look in their eyes. Some, such as Sara, Velvet, Ruby, and even Professor Goodwitch are misty-eyed. Velvet and Sara go to hug him, and the others gather around, silently comforting him. "I know. I know. I'm not alone anymore. I can rely on you all in the worst of times, when I need you the most." He looks outside. "It's getting late. Let's go back."

So they depart for Beacon, as a silent group, contemplating Valke's story. They arrive at Beacon and go their separate ways.

Two days later, it is time for the Vytal Festival Tournament. Valke's team is about to fight, and he is ready, with a bandolier attached to his belt, in turn attached to a leather shoulder guard on his right shoulder. Strapped to the bandolier are vials of bright red blood. His equipment is ready, and he walks with his team out onto the field. "The first fight is team VNIS, versus team SPKR(specter)!" booms Professor Port's voice over the intercom.

"Yes, and this is sure to be good fight! These two teams both have strong fighters, particularly the leaders, who are considered demons by their enemies!" announces Professor Oobleck.

 **Hello. This is Valkerix. So, I have a few questions for all of you. Would you like to see alternate universes/side stories as a fun thing until volume 4 comes out? (After I reach the current stopping point.) These would include any requests except anything lewd and or sexual. Such as alternate pairing, how I envision an ending for this whole story, more Valke and Selyn story (Although it's probably really awkward because I've never had a girlfriend before.) or anything similar.**

 **Also, the next chapter uploaded will be a bonus of all the fights that were omitted at the beginning of this chapter.**

 **And thanks to The Burning Ruler for the suggestion of** ** _Payback_** **by Slayer. It really fits how I had first imagined the fight, with the Feral instinct being honed by Valke's skill, and tearing through as a tornado of blood and vengeance. I would make it bloodier, but I hate blood in real life, and I wrote this chapter's rough draft at school… so yeah. Also I don't want to give anyone more nightmares than I already might have. (Evil smile: MUAHAHA!)**


	8. Bonus Fights: Foreshadowing

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)**_

Blood of Grimm: Bonus Fights 1

Emerald and Mercury are returning to the dorms. "Hey, Mercury, you get the fights?"

"You bet. Every second, blow, and defeat," the silver haired teen replies, smirking and brandishing a Scroll. They return to the dorms where Cinder Fall is waiting.

"So did you find something we can manipulate him with? Someone is very interested in him and the power he holds. They can work anything."

"Yeah, he has a dead girlfriend and no living family. We also got some recordings of some fights," Mercury replies, starting up the video:

Yang steps up to the training ring, as Valke stows the rapier on the rack. "So, you ready to get beaten?" taunts Yang.

"Big words from a reckless brawler. I'll barely break a sweat."

"Don't be so sure, tough guy. I won't go easy on you just because you have a sob story. Most of us do." With that, she blasts her gauntlets, speeding towards him.

"Why is it that everyone wants to rush me?" He ducks, swaying to the left, raising his right hand, blocking her hook, not even getting pushed back.

"What the-" Yang is silenced as Valke counters with an underhand jab. He follows up with a series of three jabs, right, left, right. She dodges the first two, but is too slow to avoid the third. She recoils, and looks up to find Valke gone. He appears behind her and jump-spin kicks her. She shoots a combo of fireballs at him, and he rolls to the left, immediately going back on his feet. She rushes him yet again, and unleashes a rapid series of jabs and hooks. He sways left and right, blocking and knocking strikes off course. He reaches out, and plucks a small hair from her head.

"What did you just-" Valke just waves the strand in front of her. "You… YOU JERK!"

Ruby shakes her head. "Oh boy. Someone's walking away with either broken bones, or broken pride."

Yang explodes, her eyes turning red, and gets a fiery aura around her. Valke chuckles and adopts a martial arts stance; his hands up in a half closed grip with the palms facing outward, the left hand higher than the right one. She rushes him once again, and he swats her punch aside, elbowing that arm, throwing her off balance slightly. She passes by him like a bull and a bull fighter. She assaults him, and he once again blocks and swats away most of the attacks, although she does land a few hits. She takes a large left swing, and he ducks, simultaneously sidestepping to his right. Grabbing her arm with both hands, he kicks her knee from behind, and twists her arm behind her back, then crouches, putting her in a simple but painful hold, laying on the ground. Valke release her, and she walks off in slight shame.

Next is Ruby. Valke picks a simple, but heavy-bladed scythe, with a hook at the opposite end as the blade. He holds it blade back, his left hand barely not holding it. He and Ruby circle round the ring slowly, until Valke dashes forward, performing a backhand swing with the scythe. She blocks with her scythe and fires the built in sniper rifle, knocking his weapon away and adding momentum to her incoming spin attack. Valke plants the scythe in the ground and spins, kicking Ruby after her scythe passes by him. She stops by planting her weapon's blade in the ground, then starts shooting at him, managing to shoot two rounds before he is out of her aim, and she frees her weapon. Valke spins the scythe over his head, adding force to his downward swing, which Ruby flips away from. She then unleashes a series of slightly varying horizontal slashes, which Valke backs away from, until he stops by planting his scythe in her swing's range. He then uses the hook to ensnare her weapon, twisting out of her hand and in the air. He swings the scythe at her neck, stopping as he catches her weapon in carrying form. He hands it back to her and goes to switch weapons.

Blake steps up, so he chooses duel swords, odd curved blades with European style cross guards, the right hand one longer in both blade and hilt than the left hand one. He attacks immediately, and she flips out of the way. He chases her, spinning the swords around him, only ever using one sword at a time, and never having an attack follow the same direction or orientation of the last one. She eventually stops him by using her sheath to stop a downward swing, then counters with a series of horizontal swings, followed by a burst from her pistol. Valke backs away from the slashes, then side steps the first two shots, redirecting the final two to the side. He lashes out with his right sword, performing an uppercut. She flips away, leaving a clone of ice, which traps the sword. Valke uses the other blade to free it, but Blake manages to wrap her weapon's rope around him, limiting his arm movements. She fires another burst, and Valke falls to the ground, bringing her with him. He launches himself up, standing once again, now free from the rope due to it going slack after she had fallen. She kicks him as she gets up, stinging his arm. She whips her sword around, like a chained dagger, and he steps in to avoid the blade, letting the rope wrap around his left sword. He switches that sword to a reverse grip, freeing it, and closes in on her, placing the smaller sword at her neck before crossing his arms, placing the blades in a scissor pattern at her neck. He steps back, flourishing the blades as he does so.

Next up is Ren. Valke chooses a pair of curved, single edged daggers with small hooks at the end of the blades. He begins wielding both of them reverse gripped, his wrists crossing each other. Ren and Valke calmly circle around, waiting to see who would strike first. Valke makes a faint, then rolls to the side as Ren counters with a burst from each pistol. Valke rushes him from the side, and slashes in a lunge, flipping around when he misses, and blocks Ren's downward stabs. Valke then unleashes a series of spinning slashes and cuts, until switching the left hand dagger to a normal grip. He then lunges, closing his arms together vertically, like a jaw, pushing Ren's weapons apart, then knees Ren in the stomach. Ren staggers and attempts to shoot Valke, but Valke is already behind him. He kicks in Ren's knees, dropping him to said knees, and brings the daggers down like fangs, stopping an inch from Ren's skull. Valke steps back and Ren exits, visibly exhausted.

Nora steps up and Valke selects a mace, not his favorite weapon, but it keeps with the theme of similar weapon based duels. He holds it in a half-raised position, the mace head at about his stomach. Nora begins by jumping at him and swinging her huge hammer horizontally. Valke jumps over it, away from Nora. When he lands, Nora rushes him, swinging down. He dodges to the side and prepares to strike, but she recovers faster than a normal person and uppercuts. Valke narrowly avoids it by stepping back. This continues, Valke being on the defensive, until Nora launches into the air by firing a volley of grenades at the ground. Valke drifts around her powerful downward slam, then unleashes a flurry of quick bashes and jabs, striking her several times. She tanks the hits and launches a grenade at point black.

" _Shoot!_ " Valke does a matrix style dodge, but it ends in him dropping to the ground. He compensates by spinning on the ground, sweeping her legs out from under her. They both get to their feet, and Valke dashes in, dodging a hurried downward smash, then assaults her, smashing her legs, then her torso and arms, then stops right before he smashes her head.

" _Well that was the longest fight yet. I shouldn't have chosen the mace. Oh well._ " Nora walks off, losing color just a little bit, before springing back to hyper-activeness. The monkey, Sun, steps up, twirling a staff. Valke grabs a staff of his own: wood reinforced with steel strips along the side, rectangular with rounded edges. It's more of a converted halberd pole than a staff, but it functions the same. He takes a ready stance, a traditional one, the staff slanted slightly up, in a two handed grip.

Sun paces around, holding the staff behind him. Suddenly, he spins and strikes at Valke, using both ends of the staff, right, left, right, ending with a jab. Valke uses his staff to block the attacks by holding it vertically. The jab he deflects with his hand, pushing the weapon to the side. He then counters with a lunging thrust, followed by spinning the staff then upper-cutting his opponent. Sun evades both, then switches his staff into two pairs of nunchuck-guns. He unleashes an assault of lightning-fast strikes and gun shots. Valke uses his staff to deflect the blows, in turn throwing most of the shots off target. Sun changes tactics, and uses one pair of his unconventional weapons to knock aside and trap Valke's then strikes with the other. Valke releases his staff and dodges, countering with a kick, spinning parallel to the ground. He hits sun in the face, causing the monkey to recoil in pain. Valke follows up by grabbing his staff, then unleashing a series of left and right hooking strikes, ending with an uppercut, launching Sun onto the ground. Valke places the staff on his chest, stopping Sun from rising.

Valke hangs the staff back up as Emerald, the green-haired girl, walks up, holding a pair of revolver-kamas. Valke grabs a singular chained kama, wrapping the chain around his left forearm, holding the miniature scythe like the hatchet it was made as. She opens with a burst of shots, prompting Valke to roll away to dodge. She sends a chain to ensnare him, but he knocks it away with his chain-encased forearm. He rushes her, but she suddenly disappears. She appears again to kick him from behind, but disappears again. He closes his eyes and wait. The sound of air being cut and a metal chain cause him to turn and catch the chained blade flying to him. He releases it, and the blade retracts, but not completely, as he had tangled his chain with hers. Surging towards her, he stuns her with a left jab, and follow through by wrapping the chain around her two or three times. He throws his hatchet, lodging it on a rafter tie. He pulls on the end of the chain, and she spins, dislodging the blade. He catches this as she stops spinning, the blade at her neck.

The final opponent is Pyrrha Nikos, who he had watched fight in the Mistral Regional Tournament for three years. Knowing her skill, he grabs a familiar weapon: a spear.


	9. Chapter 8: Vytal Tournament

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 8

Team VNIS walks out onto the field. Another team is already waiting there. The most noticeable is a wolf Faunus with long black hair that covers one eye. His visible eye is red, similar to Valke's. He wears a black leather jacket with a blue shirt underneath, black pants, and black sneakers with blue flames on them. He holds two black swords, with golden hilts. He is accompanied by three other students. The first is a girl in bronze colored heavy plate armor with a horse motif forged into it, with steel-blue accents. She has long brown hair, blue eyes, a basic helmet, also with a horse motif, and a long jousting lance modified for ground combat, making it lighter with a guard covering the handle. There is also a boy in Japanese priest robes, white with red accents. He has short black hair and strange, golden eyes. He carries a large mirror-polished shield with an oddly shaped blue double edged sword, and the hilt is split into two separate handles, with a magatama embedded in the sword's guard. Next to him is what appears to be his sister. They share the same eyes, but her hair is crimson and long, tied in a messy ponytail. She is dressed in a dark grey hakama-shita and hakama, with a light purple haori jacket over the top. The hakama-shita is loosely tied, and she has cloth wrapped around her body underneath. She wears the boots and gauntlets from a set of extremely dark purple yoroi armor. She carries a tachi blade, which is longer and more curved than a katana, and worn with the blade facing down.

The teams face each other as the battlefield is selected. Behind VNIS appears a rainforest, and behind SPKR a rocky wasteland appears, with some snow. The teen in black smirks and nods to his teammates. They split off from him and head to Valke. The girl in plate armor lifts her lance, and it splits on a hinge, revealing a flamethrower. She uses this to create a wall of flame between Valke and his teammates. The boy in black dashes toward the remainder of team VNIS, who run into the forest, and Valke takes a stance.

"Hey, 'demon' boy. What's your name? Shade won't tell us," the female samurai asks lazily. She seems over-confident.

"Nee-san, be more polite. We have to tell him our names first," the boy in robes says. "Sorry for her rudeness. I'm Kami. She's Risa, and the knight here is Palida."

"Nice to meet you. Sorry for teaming up on you, but Shade said that we wouldn't beat you if the three of us worked together. We're going to prove him wrong." The female knight puts her lance in the ground, leaning on it slightly.

"He's not wrong you know. You would have a better chance fighting the rest of my team. I'm Valke, since you asked."

Risa responds: "That's a unique name." Valke adopts a ready stance, his SMG loaded, the weapon angled down in front of him, braced by his left hand. Risa draws her sword, revealing the blade to be clear and shiny, like glass. She loads a vial of red dust into, turning the blade shimmering crimson. She holds it in the Jigen-ryu stance, the handle held at her right cheek, the blade pointing to the sky, while the other two lift their weapons.

Palida rushes in, attempting to take him by surprise at her speed. Valke simply sways fluidly to the right, drifting over in a cloud of dust. Risa launches herself at him in an aerial slash downward. Valke blocks with his dagger and pushes her off. He fires at Palida, who was trying to rush him again. She tucks her head into the crook of her arm, and the armor and her yellow Aura take the damage. Suddenly, a slash of light rushes to Valke, who jumps over it, looking towards the source. Kami is in a pose showcasing his over-swung attack. Valke shoots at him, but is distracted by a downward crush from Palida. Valke swings, deflecting the lance, only to get struck in the back by several bullets. He looks and Kami's shield is rippling, the kanji for "ten" or heaven briefly appearing. Risa then dashes in, unleashing a series of thrusts, fast enough that it looks like only one attack. Valke blocks as many as possible, his Aura taking the rest. Palida unleashes an upward swing, and Valke uses it to escape the two close range combatants, landing in the tundra wasteland. Kami uses the magatama to unleash a small beam, striking the ground where Valke had been a second before, creating a large crater and lifting smoke and dust into the air.

Valke, who had narrowly avoided the attack, uses the chance to take cover behind a rock. He pulls a vial of blood from his bandolier, unstops it, and drinks. The smoke clears, and he reveals himself, walking toward them. "You, know, I'm not really a demon. But my other side is. You're about to meet about a thirteenth of him." He stabs his left forearm, and the blood that comes out is a red mist, cloaking his entire body. It forms the white armor parts of an Alpha Beowolf in red blood: rib like armor on his chest, spikes on the knees, shoulders, and forearms, as well as the spine. Random seeming patches of bony plate, and claws on his feet and arms. The claws on his arms are much longer than a normal Beowolf, more like claw weapons made by humans. Valke crosses his arms in front of his face before adopting a pose while howling, as a fanged Beowolf mask covers his face.

"Oh, it looks like Shade Hill and Valke Itzal have both activated their semblances. Shade is avoiding every attack using his Shade's Deception, and Valke is going berserk with his Blood of Grimm ability," Oobleck informs the crowd.

Panicked, Palida breaks up the ground and sends chunks of rock and dirt at him. Valke slices the first few into pieces, before jumping on top of larger ones, hopping closer and closer to the group. Risa picks up some smaller rocks that got left behind and throws them at Kami's shield, causing them to launch at high speed toward Valke, about ten times bigger than before. Valke simply slices these, emerging from behind them and landing amongst the three now terrified warriors. They take up ready stances, and Palida jabs at him. Valke swats the lance aside and strikes her. She's launched, landing a few feet away. Risa rushes at Valke, dragging her sword on the ground, igniting it. She swings up, then follows through with a spin and several downward slashes. The slashes are dodged, and Valke catches the final slash, then pushes, forcing her back. He kicks her and she flips away in the nick of time. Kami attempts to slash again, but is too slow preparing his slash. Valke rushes toward him, and pins his sword in his right claws, using the left claw to trace out the kanji on the shield. The shield dulls and shatters.

"And Valke has figured out Kami's semblance! The kanji he writes on his equipment enchants it, giving it special abilities," booms Port.

Risa dashes in and strikes at Valke, creating a slight wound on his back, causing him to release Kami. Kami kicks at Valke, who blocks with a forearm. Palida returns, riding a spectral horse. She lowers her lance and charges at Valke. He rolls to the side, then blocks Risa's strike.

"And Plume activates her semblance, the ethereal mount! But can they defeat Valke? He's barely gotten any damage to his Aura!" Port exclaims.

Valke swings at Risa, who gets grazed, protected by a light purple Aura. She recovers and sheaths her sword, taking a crouched stance, her sword out to the side, her hand barely touching the handle. Palida distracts Valke by running around him, swinging the lance. Valke attacks, knocking her off the horse and making it dissolve. Suddenly, Risa rushes by. She unleashes a series of quick slashes, drawing her blade as she strikes. Valke gets hit by a few, but is familiar with the basic technique, which allows him to block most of the strikes. His Aura at about 60%, he rushes to Risa, knocking her to the ground, then stomps, reducing her Aura to the red zone. Palida attempts to strike him, spinning the lance around, but Valke circles her, avoiding her jab. The knight turn around, only to be met with a clawed hand, gripping her head as Valke draws back his other hand, performing a palm thrust, launching her out of the ring. Turning to Kami, Valke rushes, knocking the sword out of Kami's hands, then uppercuts him, launching the priest into the air. Valke jumps and kicks Kami back onto the ground, creating a large dust cloud. Valke walks away, the red Beowolf armor fading. Shade, the boy in black, walks out of the forest.

"We have a major knockout, with each team losing three members! Now we get to see the clash of alleged 'demons'! Who will come out on top?" Oobleck proclaims, sounding astonished.

"Hey there. How you doing? Haven't seen you in a year. Of course, you've never met me." Shade says, smirking.

Valke takes up a pose, shock barely visible on his face. "What are you talking about?" Then, he suddenly remembers: the boy had nearly beaten Pyrrha Nikos at every Mistral Regional Tournament. "It's you. The runner-up four years in a row."

"That's me!" He laughs. "I've always wanted to fight you. You were hired as a guard for three years, at a tournament full of top warriors from around a kingdom."

"Then enough talk. Let's get this over with." Valke takes a stance, replacing the magazine in his dagger, using the ejected magazine as a left hand knife. He holds them like a praying mantis: both pointing downward. Shade takes his own stance, the swords point up and to the sides of his body. He dashes forward, swinging the right sword inward. Valke stops it with his knife, then slashes with his dagger. Shade takes the obvious choice and blocks with his other sword. He then jumps away and changes his left sword to a machine pistol, firing a long burst at Valke. Valke jumps back, getting scraped by only the first few. He counters with his own series of bursts, three bursts of four bullets, following Shade as he dashes around. A few bullets hit, causing Shade's black Aura to glow. Shade unleashes a series of slashes, very skillfully, fast, with only very small windows to disrupt, and unpredictable as well. Only Valke's high analytical skills and instinct allow him to keep up. He deflects most of the attacks before aiming a quick burst of bullets, stopping Shade. Shade combines his weapons into a shotgun, firing in Valke's general direction. Valke lunges forward, laying on the ground, avoiding most of the fragments.

Shade responds by shooting several more shells at him. Valke rolls to the right, launching himself into the air with his right arm. He uses his left hand to pull the string from his glove, then wraps it around the handle of his knife. He then throws the knife, wrapping the string around Shade's shotgun, and pulls. The gun would have been pulled out of his hands, but Shade morphs them back into swords. Shade dashes to Valke as the latter lands, forcing him on the defensive. Valke dashes, back-stepping into the burning forest. Suddenly, Shade disappears. Valke looks around, but is slashed on the shoulder by Shade, who had appeared behind him. This causes red blood to spill out, too weak to enhance Valke, but still with the Beowolf blood taking over the Reaper blood. Valke turns and swings, but Shade disappears again. Valke notices slight movement on the ground and sees a shadow without anybody to cast it. He slashes at the place where the shadow originates, but nobody is there. The shadow moves, and Valke loses it amongst the shadows cast by the fires. Shade appears again and again, almost always hitting Valke. Valke's Aura is now at only about 20%, whereas Shade still has a good 85%. Suddenly, Valke gets an idea. He lines up the strike and swings, the weapon's shadow narrowly missing Shade's shadow, as he moves out of the way. Valke runs toward the tree line, where the fire is casting shadows everywhere. Valke line it up again and strikes Shade's shadow, canceling his semblance, majorly hurting his Aura, lowering it to about 31%. Shade is stunned on his knees, so Valke starts slashing, stabbing, and generally anything to hurt Shade. After a few hits, Shade catches Valke's weapons on his swords, stands up, and pushes Valke away. Valke kicks at Shade as he is sent flying back, causing minor damage. Valke lands in a crouched position, out of breath. Shade walks slowly forward, advancing cautiously on Valke. Valke turns and runs to the left, into the forest, before stumbling over something. He looks and sees what appears to be a tree root, but is a little too far from the trees to be so. He stops and crawls backward, waiting.

Shade appears and sees Valke on the ground. "Out of energy, huh? Too bad. I was enjoying our little duel here." He walks forward for a few feet until his left foot gets ensnared by a loop of thick rope. He gets pulled up into the tree branches.

"Too bad for you, my teammates are amazing. They may not be perfect fighters, but they're strong and smart. Nick had the foresight to trap the entire forest while you were fighting. Of course, most of them burned, but at least this snare survived." Valke loads a new clip, and the lights on his dagger become ice blue. "Let's end this." He shoots at least a dozen bullets at Shade, encasing him in a thick shell of ice. He then jumps, catching a branch with his now empty left hand, and cuts the rope holding Shade, and the frozen boy falls, cracking, but not shattering the ice. Valke then jumps off the tree branch, flipping in the air, before aiming at Shade and kicking, one foot pointing down, the leg straight, while the other leg is bent, positioned close to his body. His foot makes contact, shattering the ice and creating a crater in the ground. Shade's Aura just barely drops to the red zone. Valke stand up from his kneeling position, and walks over to Shade.

"Good fight. The toughest I've had in a while," Valke says, holding his hand out. Shade takes it and nods, attempting to recover the air knocked out of his lungs. "Come on, let's go. Your teammates might need some help, I went a little berserk on them." The two walk off the field, sharing the camaraderie of having found a good opponent and a likely friend.

Valke is with his team, voting for who would move on. Sara is talking: "Valke should be at least one of the next fighters."

Valke just shakes his head. "No. I don't feel like it, and I wouldn't have won without Nick's snare trap anyways. Also, any of you two work together better than I do with any of you. That's important for the doubles round. I for one, think that it should be Nick and Isabel. You two work together well, and that way you have a fast fighter and a more powerful fighter, balancing it out. Not every opponent can be defeated with strength or speed alone. And the kid who beat you three, Shade, is on my level of strength, not to mention his surprising semblance."

Nick nods and Sara just shrugs, not caring who went next. "So, Isabel and I then?" Nick asks. Each of the four nod. "Well, that's decided! Now if you don't mind, I need a nap."

"Okay. I'll be watching the next fights." Valke walks out on his own, going to find a good seat to observe the next fight.

Valke is sitting down at the edge of a row of seat, watching team JNPR's fight. Team RWBY had fought in the previous match, and to be honest, it wasn't that bad, although they could have monitored and controlled the enemy team a little better. As JNPR's fight ends, Jaune forgets that they are in a fight, arguing with his teammates. He really wasn't good at planning, but he is a good improviser, as shown when he directed Pyrrha to protect Nora from the enemy sniper, although generally the fight was a mess.

Suddenly, he notices two people in loose, hooded robes watching him. They walk away, and he stands up, following them. He enters an empty corridor that only those affiliated with the fighters can enter, as Nora smashes JNPR's enemy team, defeating all four of them at once. Valke walks in cautiously, seeing an empty corridor. "Hey there Valke. Haven't seen you in a while." A semi-deep voice says from behind him.

Valke turns around and sees a teenager in a red hooded robe, one of the two watching him only moments earlier. He draws his dagger and loads it, slowly approaching the teen. "Who are you? How do you know me? When did we meet before?" The man chuckles, and Valke feels a stabbing sensation in his neck. Valke swings behind him, narrowly missing a female in a white hooded robe. Valke reaches up grabs a syringe in his neck, pulling it out and dropping to the floor. He flexes his hand. "A coagulant? So you know I'm a Reaper, and you want to capture or beat me. Who do you two work for?" He raises his arms, entering a combat stance, the coagulant stiffening his body.

"You don't recognize us? That's too bad." The female says, in a very familiar voice.

Valke's eyes go wide. "Who are you!? You sound like someone I know, but they're dead. I know that for a fact."

"So you haven't forgotten us." The girl swings out two katars, which unfold from her forearms. They have a crescent moon pattern on them.

Valke rolls out of the way as a huge blade comes crashing down at him from behind. The male is wielding a large blade, black with red accents. On his right arm is a huge shield, and he uses a left-handed grip. "Come with us, or we'll have to hurt you."

"Never. I have some obligations here." Valke lunges at the man, who holds up his shield, stopping Valke's attack, while the girl dashes in, sweeping at Valke's legs. He jumps up and kicks off the wall, putting both the enemies in front of him. The girl walks towards him, then launches a crossbow bolt from her left weapon. Valke flips backward, avoiding the projectile. When he stands back upright, the girl is behind him, and kicks him forward. The man attempts to crush/cut Valke with his sword, but Valke deflects it with his dagger, forcing it to land to his right. He rolls to the side and gets to his feet. Every second, he gets stiffer and stiffer as the coagulant starts to course through his body and solidify his body. It's gotten to the point where he can barely keep up. He attempts to raise his weapon, but can't and instead drops to the ground.

"Tell me, who are you? You remind me of two people I know died. But you can't be them," Valke says, panting. It's getting difficult for him to even breathe.

"You're right, we did die. But about two years ago, I came back to life," the man says, lowering his hood. Underneath is a blond haired teen about Valke's age, with red eyes. He looks five years older, but the smirk, the stance, the face, everything reminds Valke of…

"Connor? But you died five years ago. I saw it. The Atlas soldiers shot you and you died in my arms," Valke whispers, shocked.

"I told you, I don't know how, but I do know who. She can help us, bring everyone back. We just need to help her do something that will allow her to do so."

Valke looks towards the girl. "And you… don't tell me… Selyn? Are you really alive again?"

The girl nods, also lowering her hood. She looks basically the same, but with scars where the thugs had cut her before she had died. "I only got revived a couple days ago." Her voice is just as musical as before, although slightly sadder.

Valke struggles to his feet and walks over to the two, hugging them. "Do you guys have any idea how much I've missed you? I felt so empty after your deaths." He stands there, tears streaming down his face, silently crying, when he feels a sharp pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he sees a black serrated knife lodged in his gut. He chuckles. "That figures doesn't it? I did reply 'never', and I still won't go willingly." With that, he faints. The last thing he sees is Selyn turning to slap Connor.

Team CFVY is walking from the arena entrance returning from their fight when they see two mysterious figures holding Valke, who has a knife in his stomach, sinking into the floor, in a portal of shadows. The two strangers are arguing, something about how one of them shouldn't have stabbed him and such. The three disappear before they can stop the two abductors, and they immediately go to see Ozpin, informing him of Valke's capture.

 **So a few notes. I'm approaching the end of the current season, and Chapter 10 will be the last chapter for a while, so any requests for sidestories or backstories would be appreciated.**

 **Team SPKR:**

 **Shade: read RWBY: a Demon's Life by The Burning Ruler**

 **Palida: inspiration for weapon is Kamen Rider Knight. I just really like lances as a weapon, and knights are cool. So yeah.**

 **Kami: His weapons are based off the "Imperial Regalia of Japan" or the three sacred treasure: the sword, the mirror, and the magatama. All three are needed for a descendant of the emperor to take the throne. The sword I designed based off Nagi's sword from the game** ** _Okami_** **.**

 **Risa: Just really wanted a samurai character, and I wanted a second female member for the team. I based her mainly off the** ** _Rurouni Kenshin_** **series, or** ** _Samurai X_** **. The name is just taken off a name website, although it fits because it's similar to where I got her basic personality: Riza Wildman from** ** _Kaibutsu Oujo_** **.**


	10. Chapter 9: Death

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 9

Valke awakens in a strange land, lying on the ground. He looks around, seeing deep pink clouds shrouding the sky, with purple crystal formations all around him. The earth is a deep reddish-pink. He stands up, noting his gear is in all the right places, and that the coagulant had worn off, meaning he had full movement again, and also that it had been at least twelve hours.

"So, you're finally up. That's good; now we can talk," a female voice says. It sounds strong and somewhat venomous, as though she had a reason to hate the world. He looks towards the voice's owner, and sees a woman on a staircase. She is dressed in a long dress, literally made of shadows, with red patterns on it, with bone white skin and hair. Her skin has red markings, and her eyes are black with pupils of an even deeper red than Valke's. She's standing on a staircase, which leads to an open cliff.

"Are you the one who revived Connor and Selyn? Look, thanks for the favor, but I don't really enjoy getting stabbed by the two people closest to me and getting abducted, you know? So tell me where they are and let me go."

"They're right here, although one was being… rebellious, so I have to punish them." Connor walks down the stairs, his weapons on his back, and stands in front of Valke. Selyn floats forward, bound in shadows. The mysterious woman places a small Grimm on Selyn that begins to shock her, causing Selyn to cry out in pain.

"STOP IT! What do you want?!"

"What do I want? I want you to fight against the Kingdoms for me." Valke runs up the stairs, slashing at her. She stops him by placing Selyn in front of him, stopping his attacks. He tries to free her, but shadows around her are too strong. He tries pulling, cutting, even shooting them, but to no avail. "You'll never free her like that. Surrender your will to me!" He keeps struggling. "Alright then, you can die then; I'll just revive you."

 _ **Play**_ _Inside the Fire_ _ **by Disturbed.**_

Suddenly, Connor rushes in and stops Valke, slashing at him. "What are you doing? She's the one that can help us! With her, we can take revenge on Atlas, and everyone that hated us for being monsters!" He pushes Valke back.

"That's not something I can just sacrifice everything for! Not everyone in the world is a bad person! I know plenty of good people!" They continue fighting until a pale skinned man with red eyes and shaved black hair wearing a black suit with gold buttons and stitching walks up.

"I sensed two of my people here, and a mysterious presence, and what I find is a manipulator and my brethren fighting. Hey there Valke."

"Vlad? What do you want? I'm busy here trying to save my undead girlfriend here." Valke barks before returning to the fight.

Vlad pulls off the white glove on his left hand and pockets it, revealing a tattoo of a skull wearing a crown, which starts to glow. He summons a very odd sword. It is black with red accents, with a thin, double-sided blade. The blade is segmented by several red arrows running along the blade. The hilt is in a simple wrap, with a hand-guard shaped like a butterfly. He charges toward Connor, slashing at him. The blond teen blocks with his shield.

"Valke, go! I'll hold this renegade here for you," Vlad says. He starts fighting similarly to how Valke fought Weiss, with sweeping cuts and quick jabs. Connor attempts to stop Valke, but is forced to focus entirely on Vlad's quick attacks.

For his part, Valke takes on his Reaper form, charging once again at the mysterious woman. Selyn is placed in front of him once again, but he grabs her, flipping over her, then thrusts his weapon in spear form at the mysterious woman. A shield of shadows deflects it and tendrils of shadow sprout from the ground and surround Valke. Valke tries his best to evade them and slash them down, but he can't detect them fast enough with so many of them. " _The instinct of the feral side is gone, so I can't track as many enemies in this form as before? Damn it!_ " He jumps away, breaking the blade on his weapon and creating a shield of blades around him. "Vlad! Use your semblance. We need to escape! Blinding smoke!"

Vlad nods and raises his right hand, and several spots erupt from the ground, spewing an oddly colored smoke. Valke dashes into the smoke and explodes his weapon shards, creating a flashbang. This is calculated to stop enemies from seeing normally, and also stop anyone using night vision or thermal vision. " _DAMN IT! Selyn, I will save you, or die trying._ "

Vlad and Valke return to Vale, where Valke's friends are worrying about him. However, they don't go to Beacon. Instead, Vlad leads Valke to a place where there is a congregation of other Reapers, who Vlad is the leader of. They do this to make plans to stop the woman from earlier. Vlad is explaining the situation to Valke.

"That woman from earlier is named Salem. She desires the power of the Reapers, and has been drawing them away to fight for her. Nobody else noticed but my group, as it got smaller and smaller. Unfortunately, I acted too late. Some king I am, eh?"

"As you saw, she has the ability to resurrect and modify beings, but only to a limited extent, or she would just resurrect and modify all the dead Reapers. It seems she can only revive a certain amount of people in a certain amount of time. She draws the rest of us with promises of revenge, wealth, power, or even the revival of loved ones, such as with you. She must want your special blood though."

Valke nods, knowing what he's referring to. Valke is the special mix of a human and a Reaper, and for some reason, this makes him stronger and more resilient than most other Reapers, hence why he can take streams of bullets in a row while other Reapers can't. "I just need to-" Suddenly, the TV in the room releases a screaming, horrified sound. They both look to see a robot girl in ruins on the floor, and Pyrrha Nikos on the field with a traumatized expression on her face. Then, a female voice speaks, speaking about how the combat schools are teaching unnecessary violence and how Atlas is trying to over display their military power, and how the Kingdoms are heading towards war, trying to instill fear. The message cuts out, and a level nine Grimm warning blares. Several Reapers cry out and several Grimm enter the building. The Reapers dispatch them, and Valke looks at Vlad. "Follow me. We need to go to the arena."

They run out, seeing the Grimm running rampage amongst the city, and several enemy airships flying in, opening to reveal White Fang members. The duo runs through the city, heading to the arena. They arrive on top of the arena in time to see several students work together to decapitate a giant Nevermore. Out of nowhere, several Griffin Grimm rush by, circling the arena. The students are stopped from fighting them by Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck.

"Well Vlad, up for saving some old geezers?" Valke says, tying his string around a throwing knife, specially made to hook onto things. Vlad nods and jumps down, so Valke throws his knife and ties the string to a nearby antenna. He ziplines down to the field, in front of one of the Griffins. He stabs it in the legs, then climbs on top of it. From there, the Grimm takes off, and Valke shoots at several other Grimm with stone bullets, before stabbing his mount in the back and jumping off.

Meanwhile, Vlad jumps onto a Griffin, and places his hand on its head. Black tendrils shoot from his hand, webbing around the Griffin's head. It's eyes glow silver, and it follows his commands. He orders it to land and jumps, summoning his sword. It segments where the red lines are, becoming a blade-whip. He wraps it around another Griffin's legs, then swings, bringing the beast to the ground, where Professor Port beheads it. Vlad uses the swing to land on another Griffin and takes control of that one.

They finish eliminating the Grimm, and Vlad says to Valke: "That one's yours. Go save your friends. I'll as many people as I can." Valke climbs onto said Griffin and rides it, heading towards the school.

He flies over the courtyard of Beacon, and sees Velvet fighting several Atlesian Paladins, in the Atlas colors. That means that someone took over the Atlas control systems. Velvet seems to be doing okay, and a lot of the others are with her, so he flies away, trusting them to do the job. He sees flashes on a large Atlas airship, so head that way. He approaches and sees the strange girl from the warehouse and Roman Torchwick fighting Ruby. Ruby is barely able to fight back due to the team work of the two criminals, until Ruby sends the girl flying by opening her umbrella. Roman beats her, but she fights back admirably. Roman is about to kill her when Valke arrives. He jumps off the Griffin and orders it to attack Roman, who gets eaten. Valke sees Ruby jump off as he lands on the airship, following it down to the ground. He sees the Atlesian robots stop and crash, so he assumes the ship is the control ship. He jumps off the wreckage of the ship, and follows a large trail of sword slashes and gunshot marks. It leads him to the cafeteria where he hears a man yelling, and Blake crying out in pain, until Yang runs in, and he hears a slashing sound. He arrives just in time to see Yang being carried off by Blake.

Valke enters the cafeteria, where a White Fang leader dressed in black is standing, facing away from him. Valke walks in and looks at an arm laying on the ground, one of Yang's gauntlets on it. He picks up the arm and pulls off the gauntlet, turning it into storage mode, and places it into a pocket. "You know, cutting off arms and hurting those you care about isn't okay. People you care about should be protected at all costs, their feelings considered. I should know, I killed to avenge one of my loved ones. I killed those responsible for her pain."

The man turns and fires at Valke, who rolls to the side. "Who are you? Have you come to die?"

Valke laughs. "Die? Oh no, I won't be dying here. If anyone, you will die." He draws his weapon and loads it. He dashes toward the enemy, kicking at him. The Faunus simply dodges to the side, then launches his sword at Valke. Valke sidesteps to the right, avoiding the sword. He sees a red chokuto flash by. "Oh, I didn't know you were Jetstream Sam. I thought you lost to Raiden?"

The man simply shoots at Valke with an old style rifle. Valke cartwheels to the side, shooting his own gun at the man. The White Fang leader dodges, taking the opportunity to grab his sword. "Die!" He dashes at Valke, swinging the sword in a skillful downward arc. Valke spins, holding out his left arm. The sword slices through his arm like butter, and it goes flying before dissolving. The tendrils of blood start crawling up Valke's arm as the man backs away.

Valke walks toward him. "You wear Grimm masks because you are branded as monsters? Do you really believe that? Come, I'll show you what a real monster is like!" He coats his right hand in blood and smears it on his face, forming the Reaper mask. The man swings his sword, and Valke blocks with the bony gauntlet on his left arm. "It's time to die!" He places a Scroll on the table next to him, which, miraculously, hadn't been destroyed. It starts playing _Die_ by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams

Valke summons the spear as the man jumps back. He starts walking slowly towards the man and several shots pass through the gaps in his skeletal body. Valke swings the spear in a large arc, narrowly missing the man. Passing the spear around his back, he switches hands, jabbing the man in the stomach with the butt of the spear. He then uppercuts at the sadistic Faunus, and he blocks just in time, leaving only a light scratch on his chest. Pushing the spear away, the rebel sheaths his sword and jumps back. They circle around the room slowly until Valke dashes toward the man. The man draws his sword as Valke nears, slashing. Valke hangs back for a split second, his reaction time improved due to the adrenaline from the fight. The sword narrowly misses, and Valke punches the man into the wall behind him. Valke slowly walks toward him. The man gets up and stabs Valke in the chest, where the heart should be. Valke smiles a very toothy grin, then pushes the man into the wall, pinning him there with his spear.

"You Faunus have hearts, right? Well, this is what's inside a monster." He grabs the sword hilt protruding from his chest and twists it, then draws it from the left side of his chest to the right. "Nothing. I have no heart, no guts, and no nerves. Just blood and a soul." He pulls the sword out and stabs the man right below the ribs, prompting him to grit his teeth. "You're tougher than I thought. Goodbye. You'll probably be saved before you die if you scream loud enough. I can hear some of your men coming." Valke grabs his spear and walks away, heading towards the Beacon docks.

Meanwhile, Nick, Isabel, and Sara are in the city, where they had been searching for Valke. They had lost the doubles round after they had been distracted by news of Valke's abduction. They had been some of the first to respond to the attack, and are currently evacuating the edges of the city.

Sara shoots a railgun round at an Ursa before turning and blocking a Creep, pushing it off then slashing it in half. "Clear!" Nick and Isabel come out of a nearby building, along with several civilians. They lead them to the next house, where Isabel and Sara switch places, with Isabel staying outside to clear Grimm as Isabel and Nick guard the civilians. Suddenly, a man and a woman, both with black hair and red eyes come into view, pushing several large Grimm back with a flurry of attacks. The man is swinging a cutlass while darting around, and the woman is chopping through with a battleaxe. A few seconds later, the Grimm are all gone, and the two walk over. Isabel approaches from outside.

The man speaks: "See, I told you I smelled some people."

"Fine, you're senses aren't as bad as I thought they were." She turns to speak to the three students. "We cleared a path to the inner city. You can go right now. Hurry!"

The three shrug and lead the civilians to the inner city. Once there, Isabel asks the question on everyone's mind: "Were… those more Reapers?"

"I think so…" replies Nick.

"There are more of them?" asks Sara. "I thought all of them but Valke were killed."

Vlad walks up to them. "Greetings. I assume you're Valke's teammates?" They nod. "My name is Vlad. I'm an old associate of Valke's. I'm a Reaper too."

"You see, after the escape from the lab of our origin, we split into many groups. Valke's village was one of about one hundred. His group was pretty peaceful. Some turned criminal, and others, are nomadic vigilantes and philanthropists. I'm the king of one such group. Valke traveled with us in Mistral for a little. I pity him for his history, but he is such a great fighter." He clears his throat. "Anyways, Valke is okay. He's at Beacon right now, saving the rest of his friends. I'm here to direct my Reapers on what to do." A man calls his name. "I'm afraid I must answer that. You may wait here or go to Beacon; the choice is yours." Trusting Valke's skill, they decide to wait and see if they can help in the city.

Valke, back in human form, is just arriving at the Beacon docks. He finds a large congregation of other students, including Blake and Yang, Ren and Nora, Sun, team CFVY, team SPKR, and several other teams that had participated in the tournament. He walks up to Blake and Yang. "I'm sorry. I was too late to stop that man. But I did get revenge for you both." Blake looks sharply at him, and he laughs in response. "No, I didn't kill him, kitty cat. I left him with major injuries and broken pride, but his men should have saved him." He takes out Yang's other gauntlet and gives it to Blake, since Yang is unconscious.

Next he walks over to Ren and Nora. "Where's Jaune and Pyrrha?" Both are pretty majorly injured; they have trouble even speaking, much less standing. "We don't know… Weiss and Ruby… went to look for them."

"I'll help in a bit. Let me check on everyone else." He walks over to team SPKR. "You guys okay?" He looks at them, observing a few scratches on them, but nothing too bad. "Good luck to all of you. Shade, I'll see you later." He grips Shade's arm in an odd handshake, then walks over to team CFVY. "Hey there. Anybody hurt too badly?" They shake their heads. He looks at Velvet. "I saw you fighting the Paladins. Good job. I didn't help because you all looked like you had it covered."

Velvet smiles from the compliment. "Thank you. Are you coming with us to Vale? The airship should be arriving soon."

"With any luck, but I have to help find Jaune and Pyrrha." Just then, he hears static in his ear.

"Weiss! Please, you have to stop her!" A pause. "Pyrrha! She's going after that woman… At the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"

"What the… I thought it was broken…" Valke mutters. Velvet looks at him curiously. "Nothing. I know where Pyrrha is. With any luck, Jaune will be okay, but he sounded panicked."

He turns and is about to dash for the tower, but Velvet stops him. "Wait! You'll be okay, right?"

He breathes in, examining the situation. The enemy has unknown powers, but is in Ozpin's tower, meaning she likely beat Ozpin. Pyrrha doesn't stand a chance. He begins to lie. "Of cour-" He stops, then suddenly changes his mind. "Goodbye." He runs off before she can stop him.

Reaching the tower, he meets Vlad. "Something you need help with?"

"Yeah. Follow me. We need to get into the elevator." They run inside, and climb up the elevator shaft, using their enhance speed to catch up. Just before the doors open, they enter.

"Hello Pyrrha."

"Valke? What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life. Sorry, but I need to do this." He punches her, knocking her out instantly. "Okay, Vlad? I need you to take Pyrrha and hide her. Don't let anyone know she's still alive. One day, somebody will come to you, either me or somebody else. Only then can you let Pyrrha go. Imprison her if you need to." He picks up Pyrrha's weapon, handing his own over to Vlad, including his glove, revealing a shiny black hand. "Keep these until I come for them too." Taking Pyrrha's sword, he creates a small slice on her finger, drawing some blood. Vlad nods and exits the elevator. "I hope this works, I've never tried to become a female before." He licks the blood off the weapon. He begins to transform into her. He nods.

Valke rises up to the top floor, then exits the elevator.

He sees the fire-eyed woman from before. He immediately throws the spear, then the shield, both attached to a string he had cut off his glove. They return to him, and he copies Pyrrha. He and the woman fight, but the woman has strange magical abilities, not a semblance, but something else. He manages to lock the blade at her neck, but she melts right through it. She ruins Ozpin's office, and he uses the wreckage by tying string from a distance by tying weights to the string, which allows the string to wrap around the wreckage, simulating Pyrrha's semblance. He fights her with the shield and the wreckage, but she eventually over powers him, shooting him in the right ankle, disabling it temporarily. She talks to him about being promised stolen powers.

He copies something Pyrrha would say: "Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes."

" _Good, because my destiny is to come back._ " The woman summons her bow, aiming at his chest. Ruby appears over the edge of the tower as Valke feels a piercing sensation in his chest. The magical arrow drains his energy, and he feels his eyes getting heavy. He dissolves, fading away.

Ruby sees Pyrrha getting shot and goes berserk, missing the circlet changing to Valke's necklace. The woman, confused, picks it up as Ruby's eyes start glowing. The second part of the necklace drops, but before she can pick it up, Ruby attacks, and she barely escapes.

Qrow appears to find Ruby. Picking her up, he notices a sparkle on the ground. Finding Valke's necklace piece, he picks it up and pockets it. He walks off carrying Ruby to the docks.

Valke awakens back in the mysterious purple lands. He sees Connor smirking, and Salem smiling. "Welcome to the winning side." Cinder had brought his necklace to Salem, who had revived Valke after receiving it. Selyn, now free, goes to hug him, and pets her head, like the good days, thinking of what he just got himself into.

 _ **Play**_ _Divide_ _ **by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams (DO IT! It's so good!)**_

 **Next chapter is the last until the first few episodes of Volume 4 come out! Again, any suggestions for sidestories and backstories is appreciated. The next Chapter will be completely of my own storyline, no basing it off the episodes, so wish me luck!**


	11. Chapter 10: Bloodlines

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 10

Valke stands up, grabbing Selyn's hand, then looks at Salem. "Now what?"

"Now, you belong to me. You can't disobey my orders, but you will have the same behavior and personality otherwise. You will stay in the same room as your dear girlfriend." She turns and waves them away. Connor and Selyn lead Valke to a nearby series of caves carved into a cliff face. Inside is a labyrinth of hallways and doors, the walls polished and smooth and are dotted with odd glowing crystals, bright enough to light the caverns, but not as bright as electric lights. They stop at a door.

Connor gestures down the hall a few feet. "That's my room. Call if you need me." He walks away, entering said room.

Selyn opens the door and enters, Valke close behind her. Inside is a fairly spacious room. There is a single bed against the far wall, facing a TV with several game systems, old and new. A large bookshelf is to the side of that, and next to it is a desk with a multitude of papers, pens, and pencils, as well as a CD player and a large collection of CDs. A microphone and various audio recording equipment lies in that corner. A closet is open on the opposite wall, revealing a collection of Lolita style dresses, along with a few normal clothes. Next to the bed in the same side is a bathroom.

Selyn walks over to the open closet and hangs her hooded cloak up, revealing that she is wearing a light blue shirt and jeans, along with leather bracers that hold her folded up weapons.

Valke walks over to the TV and begins inspecting the games, spotting all of the ones he'd had in Mistral. "They really did their research."

Selyn walks over. "This are all the stuff you left in Mistral, plus some. By the way, I can't believe you left it all there." She pokes him in the stomach.

"I just wanted to get away from that place. Too many bad memories. I had enough with the ring." He holds up his left hand. "I have yours, by the way, but it's at Beacon, so I won't be retrieving it for a while."

Selyn opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a venomous voice from the door. "Get away from him, mutt!"

Selyn looks alarmed and angry. Valke turns around and goes into shock, but recovers immediately. Suddenly, the soulless-eyed girl made sense. "Hello mother." He turns to Selyn. "Go out into the hall and stay there until she goes away. Don't look at her eyes." Selyn does so, closing the door behind her.

Valke looks at his mother. Her hair is long and black, save for her characteristic red stripe along the left side. Her face looks to be in the late forties, and has light wrinkles. Her skin is pale and around her neck is a large, rough scar. She is wearing a long, black dress with white stripes in odd, flowing patterns. She might be attractive to some. He glares at her venomously.

She sighs. "I don't understand what you see in that half-bre-"

"DON'T finish that sentence. I'm a half-breed too and you know it. Father's a human that you slept with for fun. Besides, I love her and she loves me! Which is more than I can say about you and father!"

She slaps him. "How dare you. I loved your father. Then he ran from me, and you as well. He abandoned us, a coward afraid of his own child!"

"Because you're a clingy psychopathic woman who suddenly told a man that you bear his child!"

The fight is about to come to blows when Connor bursts in. "ENOUGH!" He looks at Valke. "Calm down. She's not worth arguing with. And you, Altaea! Leave now. Valke needs time to rest. He did just come back from the underworld."

Scowling, Altaea leaves. "This isn't over yet." She stomps out, and Selyn re-enters the room after a second.

Breathing slowly, Valke sits on the bed. "I absolutely despise her! She won't leave me alone even after we're both dead!" Selyn sits down next to him, laying her head on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, Valke has calmed down enough that he isn't about to smash a wall. Connor returns to his room, saying that he was going to take a nap. Valke tells Selyn his life story after she died, and afterwards they play videogames, like the good days. They fall asleep late at night, both happy despite the circumstances.

* * *

The next day, Selyn and Valke wake up and prepare for the day. Selyn then leads Valke to where they eat, an expansive hall that functions as a meeting place and a cafeteria, and is filled with Reapers, White Fang, and other criminals. The food is surprisingly good. Connor meets up with them and they have a conversation.

"Connor, anyone else from the village here?"

"No. Only you, Altaea, and I."

"Nobody else was useful to Salem?"

"Probably. Well, if we help her, she says she can revive the rest of them."

"Changing subjects, why do you look as though you never died? I mean, both of you seem to have aged normally."

Selyn answers. "I asked, and Salem said something to do about the soul aging even in death, and the body being built around the soul. I don't know much more than that. On the bright side, I can fight now, as you experienced. Sorry if I hurt you by the way. I didn't mean to cause you any serious damage."

"It's alright. I'm… relatively fine now, aren't I?"

After a slight pause, Selyn wonders: "Your mother… why shouldn't I look at her eyes?"

"Her Reaper ability. Every Reaper has a personal ability. While not unique, there's little chance of encountering two living Reapers with the same power. Hers is instant hypnosis. Like _Shin no Ippo_ from _Rurouni Kenshin_ , except only a very small handful of people can fight back. Mine is to take the aspects of Grimm while in human form by drinking the blood only I can extract from them, and Connor's is to be able to change his human form, which is why he has blond hair."

After this, they go back to their rooms, playing some more videogames. Unfortunately, Cinder and her group had destroyed the Cross Continental Transmit Tower in Vale, so they had no communication or way to watch videos and such.

* * *

A week passes until Salem calls Valke for a mission. He finds her at the same place she always seems to be at, staring off into nothingness. "Hello Valke. Enjoying your life here?"

"You try really hard to impress. It's actually not that bad, other than the view out here."

Salem chuckles. "Well, you'll get to see grass soon enough. You're going to raid a specific Atlas research facility and bring me the results of the 'Ghoul' project. Break in if you need to."

Valke bows. "Very well. I'll set off right now." He returns to the caves and retrieves his temporary new weapons: a silenced, short-barreled P90 submachine gun with a laser aiming module, and a long, wavy kris knife. As he passes by his and Selyn's room, he kisses her. "I'm of on a mission from Salem. I'll be back in a week or so."

"Just like old times, huh? Except now we're fighting for the other side."

"Yup." He laughs as he leaves, realizing the irony of his new life.

* * *

Two days later, Valke is walking along a lone forest path when he sees a lit up complex ahead. It's concrete, with heavy steel doors, surrounded by barbed wire and Atlas Knights and a Paladin. He silently drops the first two Knights before the other ones are alerted to his presence. He dispatches the Knight quickly, and turns to face the Paladin. Rolling past its initial swipe, he slashes at the back of its left knee, severing the wires exposed there. He turns and fires at the right knee as well, disabling movement. He climbs onto its shoulder and slashes at the underarm area, where more wires are exposed. Slashing at the wrist of the arm about to grab him, he swings to the other shoulder, repeating the process. He then hangs in front of the mech's cockpit, releasing a lightning fast chain of left and right slashes, tearing through the light armor. He stabs at an angle, breaking open the door, relieved to find it unmanned. He jumps off, firing the P90's low caliber, high velocity rounds into the machinery, causing the inside to explode, permanently disabling the mech's AI. He enters the compound, searching the labs stealthily.

One of the labs he passes by is full of scientists. "Wilde pulled another DNA specialist yesterday."

"Again? We're losing all the talent to that mysterious project of his. I have half a mind to complain to the old man."

" _Wilde's here? Interesting. Does that mean Sara's here? I was told she left Vale…_ " His mind made up, he sets off to find Wilde's office.

General Thomas Wilde is an old man, about age seventy, with graying hair, a wrinkled face, and reading glasses over wise aquamarine eyes. Despite his age, he appears to be fit, and still spars with some of the on-site soldiers. He is currently doing paperwork in his office when someone knocks on his door. "Enter."

He is surprised to see Valke walk in. "Hello General." Valke takes the seat across the desk.

"… Are you here to kill me?"

Valke laughs. "No. I have no wish to do so, and I promised Sara I wouldn't anyway. By the way, how is she? Is she here?"

Wilde looks surprised. "Sara? She said she was going to stay in Vale. Last minute decision."

Valke looks concerned. "Sir, she left Vale on an Atlas airship five days ago."

"What? Where could she have gone?" Suddenly, a creature resembling a white Reaper drops from the ceiling. The robes are shorter and black, with the same blood-like patterns. It has no armor, and its left hand is a curved blade formed by the fingers. Its hair is an eerily familiar pink.

"A Ghoul? What's it doing he-" It lunges forward, stabbing Wilde in the abdomen. He tumbles to the ground, and Valke shoots the Ghoul, blasting it off Wilde. He vaults over the desk, stabbing the Ghouls in the neck. It dissolves into white dust. Wilde stands up.

"Luckily you stopped it before any major damage could be done. Thank you."

"Sir, I have a few questions. Did you send troops after me this past year? And what are Ghouls? They're why I'm here."

"No, I didn't send troops after you. I don't have reason to do so, and I don't have any real authority over troops regularly anyways. And Ghouls are a secret project that is supposed to make Reaper DNA more feral."

"Well, that Ghoul had awfully familiar hair."

"Sara? But Lucas wouldn't…"

"Lucas?"

"Lucas Wilde. He's my son. He's been obsessed with Reapers after he had Reaper blood transfused into his body. He was in a fatal accident at age twenty, and he only had a chance that way. It changed him physically and slowed down the physical aging process."

"How many people had Reaper blood transmitted to them?"

"Five or six. Mostly scientists working on the Reaper project and volunteers near death."

"Where's the Ghoul lab?"

"Down the hall to the right, take the last left, then the second right. Another right, then the third left. It's the door at the end of the corridor on the right."

"Thank you. You should make your way to a medical doctor. You're still bleeding quite a bit, and you're not young anymore." Valke leaves, dashing through the hallways, following Wilde's directions. He comes upon a large reinforced door and kicks it open using his Aura.

Inside is a dark lab with several chambers containing growing Reapers. Music from the band Breaking Benjamin is playing, and restrained to the far wall is Sara, unconscious. Valke approaches her but is interrupted by more Ghoul from the ceiling. They circle him, their movements sloppy. "You're so sloppy and confused, you're like children."

* * *

Sara is drugged and half-unconscious, but can hear music from the band her foster brother likes. ( _Evil Angel_ by Breaking Benjamin.) She fights through the stupor, and manages to open her eyes. She sees Valke fighting several white creatures. He rolls under a high cut, slashing at the attacker's knees, disabling it. Turning and blocking an overhead swing, he fires a couple bursts at the new assailant, reducing it to particles. The third one lunges at him, but he grabs its shoulder, flipping over it. Driving his dagger into its neck, he severs it using the broad blade. The injured one repairs its knees and stands up. Valke punches it and kicks its head, breaking the neck and killing it instantly.

Sheathing the knife, Valke runs to Sara and releases her. She collapses onto the floor and he leans her against the wall. "Valke? We thought… you had died."

He smiles. "I did, but I'm back now. We need to get you away from here, but you need to be able to move first. We'll wait a few minutes."

About fifteen minutes later, Sara manages to rise to her feet, stumbling towards Valke, who catches her and leans her on him. Suddenly, a gunshot is heard and a laser flies past them, hitting a nearby console. Releasing Sara, Valke turns to the threat.

A man in his twenties is in the doorway, dressed in a white military uniform with general's rank. His hands are in black fingerless glove and his right hand holds golden machete with an extremely long-barreled Desert Eagle semiautomatic handgun along the blade's spine, a joint at the back of the slide. The grip is black, with a 'D' style hand-guard and a sharpened pommel. Valke looks at his face and stops, stunned. His hair is medium length and light brown, save for one part covering his right eye. His left eye is cold and calculating, colored aquamarine. His face is angular and sharp.

Sara speaks. "Lucas…? Why?"

A cold, analytical voice, brimming with hatred. "Quiet brat. I've always hated you. You and father. He was always a way on missions or pampering you. He never spent time with me, his blood child." He sneers.

Sara looks absolutely broken, betrayed by her foster brother who she had trusted. Lucas aims at Sara when Valke laughs suddenly. He unleashes a rather odd revelation: "I guess it runs in the family… father."

"What are you talking about monster?"

"Don't you remember Altaea? She toyed with you after all."

Lucas' eyes narrow. "Oh, her. She told me you would die."

"Of course she would. She hates you more than she hates me. She blames you for running away. I don't. She's a psychopath, through and through."

"And I've tried being certain twice. Once five years ago, once this past year."

"You sent all those soldiers?! Well, now I hate you, too!" Valke dashes in, clashing blades with his father. A very fitting song is playing. "Well, at least we have similar taste in music."

"So it would seem. And it's very fitting."

"Sara, help me kill this traitor."

"No, help me kill this aberration of nature."

Simultaneously, they say: "We dance with a devil!" (Play _Dance with the Devil_ by Breaking Benjamin.)

The two dart around the room, barely a blur to the human eye. Neither can land a hit on the other, and by unspoken agreement, neither uses his gun. Sara watches, conflicted. Who to help, nephew or brother, monster or general, savior or captor?

Sara makes a split second decision and tackles Lucas, holding him. Valke uses the opportunity to stab him in the chest and kick him away. Grabbing Sara, he dashes wildly to Wilde's office. ( _ **Pun not intended**_.)

"Stay in here, don't let anyone but Wilde senior in. He's the only one you can trust. Stay safe, Aunt Sara. Say thanks to grandpa. Wow that sounds weird." He turns to leave and looks back one last time. "I'm sorry. You made a hard decision. Thank you." He slips out and exits the research facility.

* * *

Back at the Ghoul lab, a woman walks in and looks at Lucas. "You can stop acting now dear."

Lucas opens his eyes and gets up. "Hello sweetie."

Altaea smiles and kisses Lucas. "We fooled him for sure. You go into hiding, I'll report to Salem." Lucas nods and walks out, taking off his ruined shirt and jacket, revealing numerous black scars all over his torso. He brushes aside his hair, revealing a red Reaper eye. He blinks and a flash of light appears. He is gone, not a trace of him other than his clothes and the ruined lab in sight.

 **Hello, Valkerix here with some more author's notes and facts. (Sorry for the shorter chapter.)**

 **First, Altaea: Honestly, I had a fight with my mom and vented it here. Her name is based off Altair from AC. I learned Valke is an African language for falcon, so I thought it would be funny, cause supposedly Altair means eagle? I'm too lazy to confirm that though.**

 **Ghouls and Sara: Originally, Sara was going to be a Reaper, but a second phase one where they lacked the feral side and were easier to control, with altered physical characteristics. I changed this because I didn't like the story I was making. So I changed it to Ghouls that don't have a human side and made the first wave of them using Sara's DNA.**

 **Wilde family: I didn't want to make Wilde Sr. a bad guy, so I gave him a son. I came up with the idea of Sara's abduction and Valke being Lucas' son listening to songs, which is how I make most scenes. Lucas' weapon is based off Haken Browning's, from** ** _Super Robot Taisen OG_** ** _Saga_** **, weapons, particularly his revolver laser cannon, and I also just wanted to give him a snobby, overdone weapon. By the way, Lucas is actually about late thirties, early forties, but Reaper blood slows aging. Oh, and Sara doesn't know Lucas got promoted to general.**

 **So, this is the last chapter until Volume 4 comes out. I'm probably going to start an SAO fic since my real life friends all seem to have watched it.**


	12. Request 1: Shade vs NIS (Bonus Inside!)

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)**_

Blood of Grimm: Extras and Requests 1

Shade dashes into the jungle, chasing after Nick, Isabel, and Sara. He slows down once he sees one of them. Sara turns around and takes the standard ready stance. Shade walks slowly towards her, swords ready. He dashes the last few feet, blocking her swipe to his right. He locks her spear between his swords. "Hey there. People call me Shade."

"My name is Sara." She struggles to unlock her spear from his blades, then starts to focus on something behind Shade.

"Amateur." Shade kicks at her stomach then turns around to block Isabel's incoming downward cleave. His swords crossed, he moves them to the right, throwing the attack to the side, then switches the left sword to pistol form, firing a couple bursts at Isabel, who rolls to the side, into the underbrush. He turns and blocks Sara's thrust, shooting at her at the same time. She gets hit and recoils. Shade approaches her but is stopped by several bullets coming from the forest. He jumps backwards, rolling as he lands. Remaining crouched, he sneaks into the brush.

Looping around, he finds the source of the bullets, where there are indentations in the grass. Someone had just been there. He stalks around, returning to where he had left Sara. He preps his weapons in shotgun form, preparing for a sudden close encounter.

Sara had moved away, winded, but still able to fight. Isabel rejoins her. "Where's Nick?"

"I don't know. He ran off when we entered the jungle. Traps? He is an experienced trapper."

Suddenly, a twig snaps and they turn around, taking a ready stance. Sara stabs at the undergrowth and feels the spear get knocked to the side. Isabel is about to slice the plants apart when Nick stands up. "Geez. I need to teach you guys some bird calls or something." He dusts himself off. "I was setting up traps, like you suspected. Luckily I have a lot of practice, or it would have taken longer. I wasn't overly thorough, but I did the traps all over and I did them well."

Suddenly, a gunshot roars and pellets fly out of the bushes opposite of Nick. They roll to the side, Nick and Isabel right, Sara left. Shade dashes from the cover of the flora and swings his left sword at Sara, shooting at Nick and Isabel with his right sword in pistol form. They roll to the side again, separating to prevent him from chasing both of them at the same time with his gun. Meanwhile, Sara pushes his weapon away and shortens the shaft of her spear, changing it to storage form. She swings it like an axe, a right to left downward diagonal cleave, which transitions into an uppercut as Shade back-steps. He flips, kicking her after her axe moves up. Then he turns and dashes to Nick. He swings, first the right sword down, then the left horizontally. He is about to hit Nick, when Isabel swings at him, forcing him to use his Semblance. He disappears into a shadow, undetectable among the forest, where the fire hasn't reached yet. He moves over to Sara and reveals himself, striking her in the back. The strike forces her forward as she swings blindly behind her, turn in as she falls. Shade disappears again and moves over to Isabel, where he once again reveals himself, firing his shotgun at point blank. She is struck and is sent flying into a nearby tree. Shade disappears just as one of Nick's needles fly toward him. Popping up in front of Nick, Shade presses a pistol to Nick's chest, firing a long burst. Nick is hit by the first ten or so before falling on purpose evading the rest. Sara's spear rushes by, grazing Shade in the chest. He turns, firing a burst at Sara as he strafes away from Nick. Isabel rushes in, slicing at his neck. He ducks, dropping on all fours and kicking backwards, striking her jaw. Recoiling, she steps back, allowing Nick to unleash his single surprise shot. This strikes Shade in the shoulder, stinging his arm. He drops back into the shadows, moving toward Nick. Appearing at his right, he knees Nick in the stomach, causing him to double over. Using Nick like a table, Shade rolls to the other side of Nick, causing Sara to strike her teammate, dropping his Aura to red. Sara grows red with embarrassment.

"So sorry!" Shade smirks and strikes her while she is distracted. Turning and kicking her, she does a quarter spin, and he slashes in an 'X' pattern across her chest. "Don't get distracted during a fight." Turning to Isabel, the last member, he weaves toward her as she fires her entire clip rock and roll style, from the hip on full automatic. Shade barely has to work to dodge, as 98% of the bullets go wide, missing entirely. "Gosh, I understand panic, but that's excessive. He closes the final couple yards, swinging up with his left. She holds the rifle like a battleaxe, the stock of the weapon sharp on the bottom. Blocking the first strike, she jabs at his face. He leans his head to the left, then ducks and moves under the weapon, swiping at her stomach. He follows up with a pommel strike to the back, then strikes with both his swords downwards, knocking her Aura into the red zone.

"Now, to go fight your leader, the bodyguard for a tournament of fighters the same age as most of the fighters." Smiling in anticipation, he walks out of the forest, brandishing his swords.

 **As requested by The Burning Ruler, the fight between Shade and team VNIS minus Valke. Hope this inspires you, and can't wait for more of your writing.**

 **And to all readers, suggestions for more bonuses are appreciated in order to keep me busy while I plan out my SAO fic.**

 **Sneak peek of what's to come in Blood of Grimm: Valke turns around in Reaper form and reaches up, facing an army of Ghouls. Grasping his mask, he breaks it, leaving only the mouth of needles behind. He opens his red eyes and his hair turns white. "You wanted to control a monster, but no one can control it. A monster lives by its own free will! And now, a destroyer becomes a protector. I am a terror to my enemies as I rip them apart." His body in engulfed in white tendrils, forming a living suit all over his body…**


	13. Chapter 11: A New View

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 11

In Salem's land of darkness, a buzz sounds out in an isolated room. A non-descript White Fang henchman is holding a heavy electrified wire with the casing stripped off a large portion of it. He swings and another buzz sounds as it hits Valke's back. Valke is kneeling on the ground with his shirt pulled up to his shoulders. Salem stands behind the White Fang member watching. Another flick of the wrist and a shock on par with a lightning bolt hits Valke again. Combined with the weight of the wire, it's painful even for Valke, who has a lust for pain.

"This is for failing to secure the objective of the mission, but killing some of the Ghouls, revealing yourself to two people from your previous life. This is a major failure and a breach of conduct." A smile tugs at the corner of Salem's mouth.

Valke remains silent. Another five lashes hit him before Salem stops the White Fang lackey. Freed from Salem's influence, he walks outside. When he exits, a dull thud sounds out from the hallway.

"That was amusing." Salem turns to find Altaea emerging from a hidden passage.

Dismissing the White Fang member, Salem replies: "You really do hate him, don't you?"

"Of course! He's not good for anything but killing with brutal, raw power." Altaea laughs: a beautiful, yet disturbing sound. "once your done with him, I'm going to kill him a second time."

"He would kill you if you tried." Salem replies frowning.

"HAH! As if. He's ,much too sentimental. But all that aside, my mission was a success. Lucas is presumed dead and the data for the Ghouls is destroyed.

Salem sighs. "Good enough." They both exit the room.

Valke stumbles into his room and collapses on the bed. Selyn, who had been in front of the TV sitting in a chair, stands up and gasps. "Valke, are you okay?" She touches his back causing him to groan in pain. She takes his shirt off carefully, revealing his torso.

Valke's back is covered in bruises from the impact of the heavy wire and long, feathery scars from the electricity. His right arm is shiny black from the shoulder down, but still shaped normally. Selyn begins rummaging around in a box next to the door of the room. She returns to Valke's side holding an ointment. She applies this lightly to Valke's back. This initially increases the pain, but soon Valke goes numb as the pain seeps away. He falls asleep quickly, exhausted from the torture and travel. Selyn drags the chair next to the bed and watches him.

Valke wakes up to a dull pain in his back, no longer anywhere near as bad as previously. He turns over and sits up, rolling his shoulders one by one to loosen the muscles. He sees Selyn sitting next to the bed asleep. Smiling, he carefully gets out of the bed and enters the bathroom. In the pitch darkness, he stares at the mirror, seeing his crimson eyes glaring back at him. He turns the shower on and hops in, and begins to wash himself.

Selyn begins wakes up as he finishes. By the time she is conscious enough to notice anything, Valke is dry and dressed in his custom clothes. She looks at him groggily. "Eclipse?" She shakes her head and begins to look alarmed. "Are you okay? Where did those injuries come from?"

She looks about to go on until she's out of breath, so he silences her with a kiss. Hugging her, he breaks the kiss. "And to answer your questions, I'm fine. I just failed the mission for Salem, so she decided to punish me. I killed the… experiments I was supposed to bring back, and I met a few people I knew." He leaves out the part about meeting his father, figuring he wouldn't have to worry about it. Just then, his stomach growls. "I'm starving. How long was I out?"

She checks a watch on the underside of her left wrist. "Almost a day. It's about five in the morning."

"Sounds about right. I need some food, now, before I run out of energy." Holding hands, they walk to the cafeteria-like place.

Isabelle is alone… again. After the fall of Beacon, the city was put on lockdown, so she decided to return to her home in southern Mistral. The area around it is nearly entirely uninhabited though, so she had to walk most of the way. She's in a forest, walking an overgrown path, surrounded by huge trees. About ten minutes later, she begins seeing younger trees, only a few years old. Ahead is a burnt area, with only small saplings growing, and the burnt ruins of a large cabin.

Isabel approaches the burnt house and digs around in the rubble, uncovering a large panel. She heaves it open, revealing a dark tunnel with a ladder going down. She climbs down the ladder.

Inside is a bunker/shelter with three areas: a living area, a large storeroom, and a bathroom. Knowing the bunker by heart, she sets her stuff down and walks over to the light switch. The lights fail to come on when she slips the switch. "Damn generator." She walks over to another side of the room and kicks the generator, instantly causing the lights to go on with a groan from the generator. Inside the shelter is messy. The walls and ceiling are slightly cracked, cobwebs are in the corners, and the metal is coated with a fine layer of rust. "Home sweet home." She sighs and rolls out a sleeping bag.

She has nightmares, both new and old. Her parents, mauled by Grimm amidst an inferno, her sister leading her to the bunker, away from her their brother's screams, Pyrrha dying atop Beacon tower, Valke being overwhelmed by a horde of enemies, and Nick getting run through by a sword.

Isabel awakes with a start, having heard a loud thud. She sees a golden Deathstalker stinger as big as her head crawling toward her from the ladder, where a glimmer of light from the moon shines down. Suddenly, it disappears, dissolving. Something scurries up the ladder as she rushes to the light. Too slow, she misses her protector. Remembering to close the hatch this time, she falls back asleep.

"Confound it, where is that boy?!" A man in an expensive grey suit with white hair appearing to be in his mid-thirties slams his fist on an expensive wooden and marble desk. Outside the window behind is a stunning view. Obviously on the third floor of a building, one can see above the trees, revealing a blinding sunrise as birds fly from tree to tree, and a waterfall is in the distance. The man stands up and storms out of the room. A butler walks up to him. "Get me some wine. I need to do something."

As he walks across the building, one can see that it's an extremely large mansion. There are statues and fine artworks all around, and bodyguards are everywhere. " _I told Nick to come back here as soon as possible. He agreed but he hasn't returned yet. I didn't raise him to be defiant! I've given him anything he's ever wanted. I even let him go to that damned school. I knew I shouldn't have let him go. I'm never letting him make choices from now. Once the state of the world goes back to normal, he's going to a business school and learning how to manage the family company._ " He enters a door made of plain wood. Inside are several men with scars, all dressed in battle gear. He beckons one of them from the back. "Take as many men as you need. Go find Nick and bring him back here. Start at the city of Vale, that's where he last was. And don't you dare fail, or there will be consequences."

The man, who is heavily muscled and has a scarred eye with short black hair, nods. "Yes sir." Nick's father simply turns away and walks back to his study. The mercenary gestures to two others, who stand up. They grab their weapons: one has an assault rifle like the ones used by Atlas, another has a sniper rifle, and the leader grabs an espada y daga weapon set.

A woman in her early thirties with light blue eyes and brown hair walks into the study. "Richard? Where is Nick? He's supposed to be here already, isn't he?" She looks very concerned, in the way only mothers can be. She wears an expensive dress with high quality jewelry.

"I don't know where he is, but I'm having Drender look for him. He was closest to the boy and is also the best tracker out of those mercenaries. Just calm down Portia."

"You're getting drunk aren't you? Whatever. Just don't get distracted from the meeting you have in an hour." She walks out of the room.

Isabel wakes up the next day to an empty stomach. "Wait… I didn't bring any food and there's no stores for miles… Dammit, guess I'll have to set some traps… if I remember how to do it from what Nick showed me." She grabs several lengths of rope from her bags and climbs up the ladder. The sun is high in the sky and the birds are singing.

She walks into the forest and tries to set up a snare at a narrow game trail, but can't seem to get the knots and tension right. "Oh, forget it. I'm not trained to do this. I wish Nick was here. Or somebody who can hunt. Not specifically Nick. Of course not. That would be weird."

"Oh, that's fine. I guess I'll just leave, since it's weird." Isabel turns around in surprise to see Nick hanging upside down from a tree branch. "You called?" His eyes are bright with laughter, and you can see he's grinning despite the mask hiding most of his face.

"Nick! What are you doing here?" Her stomach grumbles. "Wait. First, can you help me set up some snares? I really need to eat."

"Already got it covered." He holds up a rabbit and a small pheasant. "I figured you'd be hungry. I also figured you would have forgotten to bring food." He jumps down from the tree, flipping in midair.

Isabel punches him lightly. "You jerk." A smile is on her face.

Nick just chuckles. "I wasn't wrong. It's not my fault that you're so predictable."

"Excuse me. Have you seen this boy?" The terrified man in who happened to be on shift at the airship docks just shakes his head. "Can you check the security footage or flight records please? We'll wait for as long we need to. Just don't stall." The man scurries away from the three muscular men.

An hour later, a security guard approaches the three men. Drender appears to be sleeping, and the other two are checking their weapons. "Excuse me sirs, I'm afraid I can't disclose private information without some form of identification and legal reason."

Drender snaps his eyes open and stands up, grabbing the guard. "I don't care about legal excuses! I've killed people for less than this! You will give us that information, or we will kill you! Understood?!"

The man nods, so Drender releases him. Fifteen minutes later, the men have boarded an airship heading to Mistral. Drender closes his eyes to actually sleep.

A fire made out of old, dead wood and small, fresher leaves from the bushes and such as tinder. A ring of stones is around it and buried in the dirt next to the fire are two stick impaled in the bird and the rabbit. Both are roasted and more than slightly burnt.

"I can't believe you burnt the food!" Isabel laughs, biting into a leg from the pheasant.

"You distracted me! It's not my fault we both have ADHD! We ended up talking about nonsense for a good half hour or so!" Nick grumbles indignantly. He's eating the organs of the rabbit, which he had cooked by placing a flat rock above the fire.

An hour later, the fire is out and the food eaten, the scraps buried to prevent animals from searching for them. Their inside the bunker and sitting next to each other against the wall. "So… what happened here? Why is that house outside burnt? Was that your old home? I… I want to know more about you. As a friend." Nick actually seems nervous, which is odd, as he's normally confident, to the point of being a jerk on occasion.

"Well, it's a long story, and it's quite sad. But it hasn't bothered me in years…"

It was Isabel's fifth birthday today, and she had the few friends from nearby cabins and houses over to celebrate. The adults are talking, and the children are playing in the forest right next to the house. The food had been eaten, and the presents opened. The sun had sun about fifteen minutes prior, and it the light of the stars is covered by the tall trees. Suddenly, one of the children scream, and everyone, kids and adults, go to investigate.

Isabel is the first to reach it, and is horrified to see a pack of juvenile Beowolves feasting on one of the children. The face is unrecognizable, but the clothes show that is was her best friend. Terrified, she freezes up as one of the Grimm look at her and starts moving toward her, until a shot rings out and takes the Grimm's head clean off. Her father is holding his weapon, a shotgun-axe hybrid, and pumps the gun, loading a new shell. The Grimm look at him as he scoops up Isabel and runs towards the house. "Grimm!" he shouts. "Everyone get to the house!"

Mass terror ensues, and more Grimm, attracted by the sudden fear and horror, begin emerging from the woods. Parents who can fight begin fighting, while children and noncombatant adults flee towards the house. Her father gives her to her sister, who is age thirteen. He turns to fight the Grimm as Isabel is carried away to the house. She can see that there are too many Grimm, and her father starts backing away.

Isabel and her sister are at the entrance to the house when a torch used to light up the lawn is knocked over, setting the house on fire. The wood is old, and it hadn't rained recently, making it great for fire to devour. People rush outside who notice it, but the house collapses in minutes, killing almost half. Suddenly, her brother appears. Age eighteen, he already has his own weapon, and can fight well. "Mom and dad were overwhelmed. There are too many Grimm. We need to get out to the bunker. We'll be safe there. Come on!" He leads them around the house.

In the distance, Isabel can see her parent's corpses, the ribs sticking out where the Grimm ate through their stomachs. Their lifeless eyes seem to stare at her. She shivers involuntarily. "No, no! Mama! Papa! Come back!"

"Quiet!" Her sister whispers. Too late, a large Ursa appears around the corner and roars. Her brother brings up his revolvers and shoots, but the generic weapons don't do much. His breathing heavy, he brings up his revolvers, changing them into electrified knives. He jabs them into the Ursa and pushes his sisters away.

Isabel watches as the Ursa shakes off the electricity and slams her brother to the ground. As she turns the corner, it raises its paw. A second later, her brother screams, a terrifying, pleading yell for help. Her sister reaches the bunker and tells Isabel to start climbing. She does so, and just before her sister is about to start descending, an unknown Grimm pulls her away. She manages to slam the hatch shut before her screams ring out, silenced a few seconds later to be replaced by the sound of tearing flesh.

"Since then I've lived alone, until I moved to the city of Mistral. There, I joined the primary level combat school at age fourteen. Before then I had lived off of canned goods we had stored in here. Looking back on it, it was pretty traumatizing, huh?" She starts crying. "I haven't cried about this in years…"

Nick simply puts one arm around her. "It's okay. You have me, Sara… and probably Valke, I doubt he's dead. He probably just vanished… And team RWBY, and team JNPR, except Pyrrha, and team CFVY. And I would welcome you my family, but my parent's would hate you. They hate everyone. They spoiled me just to keep me quiet and obedient. So I did everything in my power to rebel against them. I hid, skipped classes, and even forced one of the bodyguards to train me in combat and survival."

Isabel leans on Nick's shoulder and he leans his head towards her. She falls asleep a few minutes later. " _Speaking of which, I wonder how Drender's doing? Probably bashing the skulls of some gang members or something who threatened father, huh?_ " Chuckling, Nick falls asleep.

In the city of Mistral, Drender and his two followers step off the airship and go to threaten the security guards for Nick's whereabouts. They set off to find a car rental for the long journey, leaving behind very frightened staff and two bleeding, unconscious guards.

"Drender, what's the plan? How are we going to bring him back, especially if he's with the girl those people are telling us about?"

"We kill the girl, if it's going to be a problem. I now you're cold-blooded enough to do that at least, Cole."

The man with the sniper rifle cackles. "Hear that Donald? We get to kill a little girl! I'm almost trembling with excitement."

"Just be quiet. You're annoying. Besides, I'll probably get to her first, like always. You're really not a great sniper when it comes to speed you know."

"That's because I'm a stalker! I hunt the prey, track them down, then kill them when they least expect it. It's so satisfying!"

"Quiet the both of you. I don't want to listen to either of your psychotic rambling too much on this trip. I want to see if the boy's improved or not."

A few days later, Nick and Isabel manage to set up an electric stove inside the bunker, and find a nearby stream for water. They even manage to start a garden for fruits and vegetables. "This isn't so bad. This food is better than any food the chefs my parents hire could make. And I'm happy to be living a simple life, although not having a computer is hard."

"I'm enjoying this life too. It's nice to spend time with you, despite your arrogance. I-"

"Shh! I hear something." Nick closes his eyes before opening them quickly. "How thick are these walls? And the door?"

"The walls are about three feet thick, the door about half a foot. Why?" The sound of marching feet can be heard overhead. A few seconds later, an explosion knocks the trap door down.

"Run, go hide, and whatever you do, do NOT come out. These men will kill you without hesitation." She seems hesitant, so Nick adds: "It sounds cheesy, but it's me they want. GO!"

No sooner does she hide in the pantry than Drender and Donald drop down the stairs, weapons at the ready. "Hey there little guy. You're coming with us. Where's the girl?" Drender is grinning, his good eye focused on Nick.

"Who? Oh, her. I don't know. She ran off when I appeared. I think I scared her, especially since this was her home. She probably went to some town a few miles away or something. Also, I'm not going without a fight. You've got a sniper outside, right? Signal him off. Then we can fight topside, where we have room."

Chuckling, Drender sends Donald to give the signal to Cole to do just that. "You're just as rebellious as I remember. Let's go." They both climb up the ladder. "Donald, stand down. I can take him, and we want him alive anyways."

"Go ahead and try old man! I'm a lot better now. And I've actually met someone who's killed more than you have. He was probably twice as strong as you."

Drender laughs. "Okay, then come at me!" He draws his weapons, putting the sword behind his back and holding the dagger out in front of him, crouching down slightly.

Nick draws his karambit style knife and holds it out in front of him, bracing his right arm with his left and leaning back, also crouching slightly. Suddenly, his eyesight zooms in on his peripheral vision, where he sees a man shifting around in the trees. " _That's the sniper._ " Shifting back to reality, he holds his knife up to block Drender's sword, pushing it to the side, then puts his knife down to deflect the uppercut with the man's knife. Nick attempts to wrap his arm around Drender's to cut the tendon at the elbow, but is stopped by the long knife, only cutting two thirds of the way up the forearm. Ducking to avoid the overhead circling slash, he is hit by a roundhouse kick following the slash.

"Still have a hard time keeping watch of your surroundings, huh? Some thing never change." Drender proceeds to slice at Nick, but only actually hits him with blunt attacks: pommel strikes, kicks, and similar moves.

Nick recoils from a head-butt to his face as Drender smiles. " _Damn it. Looks like I need help. But I can't let Isabel come out. She needs to stay safe. I need to do this alone!_ " Nick throws a needle at Drender, who catches the needle's string on his knife. Nick shoots his hidden gun but Drender deflects it off his sword and advances in.

"Honestly, I expected better. This killer must not be very good… Or did you have help taking him down?" Drender catches Nick looking at the entrance to the bunker. "Ah! So there is somebody in there!" He's just about to tell Donald to search the bunker when a gunshot rings out.

Nick turns and sees Isabel, a look of surprise on her face. He turns his head to see the sniper grinning, loading another bullet into his rifle by bringing the bolt back. Nick turns back to see Isabel collapse. "NO!"

 **Yo! It's Valkerix here. Honestly, this chapter wasn't supposed to come out until volume four of RWBY, then I listened to the full version of** _ **When it Falls**_ **form volume three… I just had to write more. Then it was supposed to come out a week ago. Sorry, but it's not all my fault. My friend who owns Nick and Isabel kept forgetting to make backstories and semblances for them… So I forced her to during a class.**

 **Nick: His original design was an asymmetrical leather vest with a wing pattern on it and a wasp symbol, but my friend wanted a snake. He was originally an experienced survivalist, but then my friend made his family rich… So I drew a lot of inspiration from** _ **The House of the Scorpion**_ **.**

 **Isabel: She didn't have much of a personality before, but now she's protective of her friends, yet shy.**

 **These two were originally designed as twins… before my friend scrapped that. And then forgot she did that… Yeah, she's bad at that kind of stuff. Also, it took me longer to get her to finish everything I need (I think) than it did for me to make Valke, Sara, Selyn, and Connor combined.**

 **Also, I swear that SAO fic is coming soon. I'm just too lazy to watch the SAO episodes I need.**


	14. Chapter 12: The End For Now

**Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (** _ **I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)**_

Blood of Grimm: Chapter 12

Isabel collapses to the ground, causing Nick to turn away from his fight. "NO!" A small pool of blood soaks into the dirt underneath her.

"Don't get distracted." Nick feels a cold sword run into his abdomen from behind, missing any vital organs. Drender kicks him from behind, then pushes the sword into the ground. Pinned, Nick tries futilely to escape.

Drender gestures with his head to Donald, the man with the assault rifle. Donald walks over to where Isabel lays, flicking the safety of his gun off. He rolls her over and notes the rising and falling of her chest, just visible under the crushed armor. "Drender, she still alive."

Nick's heart nearly stops. " _Alive? After that sniper bullet? It's a miracle. And one that I can't waste._ " His vision gets fuzzy from the blood loss, even when he tries to enhance it using his semblance.

"Then kill her. We don't need her alive, and it might make this brat's spirit break." Drender walks toward Donald as the latter raises his rifle, flicking it to semi-automatic mode. He takes careful aim.

" _No! I won't let her die!_ " Struggling, Nick finds the strength to push himself off the ground, silently. Standing up, he pulls the sword out of his stomach, gritting his teeth in pain. He throws the sword past Drender, hitting the rifle in Donald's hand, causing it to jerk aside. Flinging a paralysis needle out, Nick stings Donald in the neck and drags him to the ground.

Nick stomps hard twice, cracking Donald's ribs, then kicks his head, breaking the muscular man's neck. The way Donald dies, it almost looks like he had attacked by a constrictor type snake.

" _Now I just need to beat Drender… But how?_ "

Valke is in his room, completely recovered, in front of a microphone. The microphone and other recording equipment are attached to a laptop. He had tested all the equipment and calibrated it. The idea was to make covers of songs and give them to stores to sell, and they would do this every month, the first batch free, and if it was successful, to take about half the profit. This was because the CCTS was down, so people needed a more old fashioned way to listen to music.

Breathing deeply, he begins to record the first song.

(Play _The Animal_ by Disturbed Warning: Symbols in official music video can be seen as Satanic, but the band and song are not. If offended by such images, please do not watch official music video. Also mentions "hell".)

Nick lowers his body, putting pressure on his right foot, which is farther back. Half-crouched, he raises his arms, at an equal distance from his body. His right hand holds his knife, and his left hand holds a poison needle in a reverse grip. His eyes glow orange.

Drender picks up his sword and looks and the sniper, telling him to back off. "Well, brat, looks like you can fight after all. But you still can't beat me. After all, I taught you." He smiles, slowly approaching. He feints with the sword to Nick's right, then immediately strikes with the dagger in a lunge.

Nick sidesteps fluidly, always keeping pressure on one leg. He wraps his right arm around Drender's left from above, ending with the knife at just below the elbow. He jerks his wrist, cutting deeply into the tanned arm. Releasing that arm, he elbows it away before stabbing downward with the needle, barely brushing against Drender's chest. Nick jumps back, returning to the coiled stance.

Drender moves around Nick. Nick doesn't follow him, so Drender circles to his back and lunges, the sword pointed forward and the dagger pointed upward, perpendicular to the sword. Nick steps to the side, letting Drender lunge past him.

He turns, imbedding the knife in Drender's stomach as he does so. Using his body weight to stop Drender's momentum, Nick pulls the knife out of Drender, then uses it to slash the man's arm. He follows up with a slash to the chest, then a quick uppercut to the base of the skull.

The long, curved knife imbeds in Drender's skull, piercing the throat and entering Drender's mouth. Drender looks surprised, then makes a gurgling sound that might be laughter and nods. Nick lets him fall to the ground.

Nick is panting hard, the energy drained. He's lost too much blood. His eyes return to his normal color and he collapses next to Drender's corpse. His eyes close and he blacks out.

"That damn boy actually managed to take down Drender! Well, I just need to capture the boy and bring him back, and it's an instant promotion for me! But first things first." Grinning, Cole swings his rifle, peering into the scope. He trains in on where Isabel is, then frowns "What? Where did she-" Suddenly, the tree he's perched in starts falling, and he stands up, managing to not fall out of the tree. When it stops moving, he draws his sidearm and looks around. A whisper, and Isabel moves up behind him, her rifle pressed into his back, right at the heart. A loud crack and he falls to the ground, his a hole in his chest, his heart burst open.

Isabel walks away, looking back. "That was for me, and for Nick." She breaks into a run and dashes toward Nick.

Nick is lying in a massive pool of blood, both his and Drender's, and it's at the point where the dirt is oversaturated and can't soak up anymore of the crimson liquid. Luckily, his bleeding has slowed down, but not stopped. Isabel runs into the bunker and grabs Nick's extensive first aid kit.

Returning to Nick's side, she immediately starts a fire and begins heating up a long metal rod. Unstopping a bottle of alcohol, she pour it on Nick's wound. This causes him to thrash in pain, but she manages to hold him down fairly well. The metal rod is heated and she presses it into the wound, sealing off the blood vessels, then takes a bandage and wraps it around the wound, in several layers. She then treats her own, fairly minor wound from the bullet. Most of the bleeding had come from cuts from her broken armor.

The next day, Nick wakes up inside the bunker. He looks around in the darkness, since the lights are off. His eyes glow a green color as he scans the room. The hatch is still busted, but a net is over the opening. " _Well, it looks like she learned from the first night._ " The generator hums loudly in the far corner. Next to him in her sleeping bag is Isabel, a peaceful expression on her face. He tries to get up and winces in pain. Looking down, he sees that his shirt is off and that bandages are wrapped around his stomach. There's not much blood, but it hurts a ton. He looks back at Isabel. " _So she's okay and probably helped me, since I don't see anyone else. How did she survive that bullet though?_ " She shifts around and he sees that she has no shirt and bandages around her chest. His face turns red and he turns around, his eyes fading back to their normal color. He closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.

A few hours later Isabel wakes up and gets up, wincing slightly in pain. She puts a new shirt on, since her old one is full of cuts and stained with blood. She then turns to see if Nick is awake. She says one word and his eyes dart open. He slowly sits up. "Hey there. You feeling alright Nick?"

A weak smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm hungry though. Can you bring my bag here?" She does so and he pulls out a white t-shirt and puts it on, and pulls out two packets. He hands one to Isabel. "Here, it's an emergency ration. I always carry a few on me." He tears open the packet and starts eating. It contains some dried meat, dried fruits, crackers, and a small pouch of juice. Isabel does the same.

A few minutes late, they're done eating. "So… We should go to the nearest city. It'll be safer and easier for us to get food and recover. I'm in no state to go out and hunt. And as we know, you're incompetent at it." She glares at him. "What? It's true."

A day later, Valke, Selyn, and Connor are in southern Atlas. The borders are tight and public transport is breaking down. Cinder's actions had sparked unease, and the four kingdoms seemed to be on the brink of war. Luckily, the White Fang had vehicles to get around in.

The trio is walking down a well worn street in a small city. The silence is thick, and it's unclear whether it's because of the impending war, or the massive criminal group whose main headquarters were in this town. Valke looks around as they walk, ever cautious. All three are wearing hooded cloaks, which cover their bodies and faces entirely. The intention is to just past through, so they move quickly. Suddenly, several screams breakout into the dawn. A male and a female voice, both terrified.

They pause for a second, and are about to keep walking ahead when there are more screams and a child starts crying. Selyn, Valke, and lastly Connor, stop one by one. Selyn and Valke dash to the roofs, and start running toward the source of the screams. Connor takes a ground path through the alleys. Valke pulls out a silenced M9 Beretta pistol from under his cloak, pulls down the hood, and takes aim from the roof. He sees three thugs, two male and one female, attacking a small family. He takes aim and shoots twice, taking out the two males, who were the closest to the victims. The 9mm hollow point bullets strike the criminals' knees, expanding under the kneecap and crippling the right legs of both thugs, their kneecaps shattered and separated from the bone.

Selyn jumps down after the bullets hit, drawing her weapons, which slide out from her sleeves. She grabs the handles of the strange daggers and swings them downward, flipping the weapons out. The cloak comes undone and she flips past the two males and brings the katars to the neck of the female. "What do we have here? Who are you, and what have these people done?"

The woman, dressed in a desert camo tank top, the same as the other two, and ripped jeans, looks at Selyn rebelliously. "None of your business. This is our territory. Get out of here-"

Selyn interrupts her. "You will tell us right now, or I'll kill you here and now. They don't look like they deserve this, but I'll hear your story first."

A venomous glare from the woman's amber eyes. "You wouldn't dare. I'm part of the Desert Foxes. This is our city, and we'll hunt you down."

Suddenly, a truck pulls up next to the alley, opposite of the direction of the main street. A man pops his head out the window. "You guys done yet?" His eyes widen as he takes in the situation. "What the-"

The woman kicks Selyn away, grabs the two men, and dashes as fast as possible to the truck bed. The man pulls out an assault rifle, what looks like an AK-47, and shoots at Selyn and the victims. Connor arrives just in time and blocks the bullets with his shield. The truck drives off and the bullets stop. Connor turns around as Valke jumps down, his hood back up. "Why do you two do stuff like this? We have a mission to do, and stuff like this isn't going to stop. Not until Salem changes the world, and the current order is destroyed."

Valke sighs and turns to the family. "Are you okay? Why are they after you?"

The female, who has bright red hair cut fairly short and deep, grey eyes, starts crying. The male, who has short brown hair and almost black eyes, hugs her close with one arm, the other holding a young child, maybe two or three years old. "Excuse my partner here. I would call her my wife, but legal marriage is hard to come by in this city. We met because I had some debt with the Foxes, and she was the daughter of one of the higher ranking members. They had abducted me one day and were going to kill me. I was thrown into a basement when she saved me. Then I saved her. We ran away, because she was used by her 'father' and his friends for their sexual needs. She had been since a young age. We've been living in fear, and just recently came back to this city, trying to get to Vale or Vacuo, but all the airships were blocked, so we were hoping to find a boat to take us there…"

"That's horrifying. Unfortunately, you won't find a boat to take you there, but we can help with the gang. Right Eclipse?" Valke looks at Selyn and nods. His face is calm but underneath the cloak his hands are clenched and an aura of death radiates from him.

"Where are their main headquarters?" The man gives them a map, with several location marked out, the biggest one being at the eastern edge of town.

"Wait, guys, we have melee weapons and sidearms, we can't deal with this. Especially since we can't use that form."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Valke walks to where the truck had been. In their haste, they had left behind several weapons. "Let's see… Mac 10s are useless. He tosses aside a few guns. M1928's not bad. What else… an M16, a G36… Wait, an M60? What do they need these weapons for? This is something straight out of _Metal Gear_ or something." Eventually, Connor gets the M60 light machinegun, Selyn takes the G36 assault rifle, and Valke takes the M16, as well as an old Mosin Nagant sniper rifle that had been a few feet away. He gives the M1928 to the man, just in case, then strips the last of the guns, unloading the magazines and clearing the chambers before taking apart what was possible and breaking some bigger components.

"Well then, who's ready for some vigilantism?" Valke and Selyn move off towards the enemy base, Connor following reluctantly.

They arrive at the headquarters thirteen minutes later. Valke takes up a point on the roof near the main entrance while Selyn and Connor split up, each taking a point to the left and right of Valke. " _Alright… Four outside, one with a Kevlar vest… They shouldn't be expecting anything, so their Auras shouldn't be at full. Let's see… Armored guy first, then see if I can take out the one with the shotgun._ " He moves the scope over the head of the armored one, who is holding an AK-47. A loud crack and his head is mush, his body falling to the ground. The others look in alarm. Selyn and Connor move in from opposing sides, quickly dispatching two of the remaining guards. Valke quickly takes another shot and misses, hitting the man's arm, causing him to drop the shotgun. He dashes inside before anyone can kill him. Valke quickly climbs down the building, leaving the Mosin Nagant on the roof.

Valke meets back up with the other two, rifle out. He picks up the shotgun, a Saiga, not his favorite type of gun, and clips it to his waist, just in case. They enter, prepared to meet heavy resistance. When they enter into the building, the first few rooms are oddly empty. The rooms are also brightly lit, and well furnished. This building was obviously meant for those of higher status in the gang. They move from room to room, clearing each one, in order to prevent having to fight a two front battle.

The entire first floor is clear, so they move to the second one. There are some people here, but the three use cover to hide and eliminate the enemies quickly. There were five of them in all. At the next floor, the amount of enemies was doubled. On the third floor, the final one, there are twenty enemies equipped with automatic weapons and shotguns, and about ten or more high ranking leaders, who were equipped with large caliber revolvers, or gold-plated pistols. You can tell which ones had recent experience in battle and which ones were just arrogant and boastful when the guards started dropping and their weapon were taken up by those with the brains. Eventually, Valke and Selyn run out of ammunition. Valke had already switched to the shotgun, and now tosses it aside.

Connor fires off a last few shots. Leaving the machinegun behind, he moves over to Valke. "Still feel like a good idea? We're either gonna die, or we're gonna go berserk."

Valke smirks. "Not today. I still have this." He holds a small vial of blood.

"What? When did you get that?"

"My first mission for Salem. Found a Deathstalker, and decided to get some blood. Never know when it could be useful. Like now." He unstops it and downs the vial. He takes out a straight, double edged knife, and jabs it into his left arm. The blood starts coming out red, and takes the mist form once again. Plates form on his back; his forearms grow sharpened spikes, like claws. A large, segmented tail picks up the knife and grows above his head. A large, spiked mask with several eyes materializes in front of his face. This is all in a transparent, hazy red.

He jumps out from cover, landing crouched in front of the two nearest gangsters. The tail swipes, and their necks are slit open, large, clean gashes from ear to ear. Bullets hit the plates on his back and he turns around. He weaves through the bullets and stabs one of the attackers in the chest, piercing the man's heart. The other, a woman, attempts to run, but he surges forward, decapitating her as he passes.

Valke jumps on the wall and runs, one spike scraping along the wall. He jumps from it, knocking one criminal down. He kills that one while the tail takes care of the other two. The final two fighters are taken out by Selyn. Valke stands up and walks to the back of the floor, and kicks open a door. He walks inside, the knife scraping along the floor.

An older man, with balding, red hair is inside the room, surrounded by young prostitutes. The room is full of them, most of them drugged, or drunk. "Who are you? What do you want?!"

Valke walks forward slowly. "I'm an avenger. I'm here to end your little organization here." He stops walking, right in front of the gang leader. "I'm afraid I absolutely despise men like you. Time to die."

The man pulls out a machine pistol and sprays the entire clip at Valke. The bullets are all stopped by the bloody mist that makes up the left claw. Valke picks him up by the neck and drags him to the nearby window. He thrusts the man's head out the window and laces the bladed claws like scissors at the man's neck. He slowly draws them inwards, cutting the man's neck slowly. As soon as they reach the major blood vessels, Valke quickly pulls, cutting off the head and letting it fall into the street below. The mist dissipates, and the knife falls into Valke's hand, and he sheaths it. "Let's go. We're done here." The three walk out and leave the city, leaving behind a building stained red.

 **Hey. Well, hope you guys are satisfied, because this is the true last chapter until Volume 4. In order to make up for it, here's an extra big facts section. Also, I know this is the second gang Valke took out. I don't feel sorry though. And I believe Salem would approve because she seems to hate crime and such as well.**

 **Valke: His hair is based off Wylfred from** _ **Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume**_ **. His main color is purple because Ren from the main series had already taken green. My favorite colors, in order, are green, purple, black, and white. His weapon was designed first, then the armor and last, the face and hair. A little odd, but that's how my process generally works. The eyes are red because I didn't want to give him green eyes.**

 **Selyn: Her name is based off Selene, which is the name for the Greek goddess of the moon. Look it up. Her hair is white because I really like characters, especially girls with white hair. I first learned of her weapons, katars, from flash game** _ **Feudalism 2**_ **.**

 **Speaking of love interests… Sara: since Lucas looks like a twenty five year old man, Sara has/had a crush on him, never knowing his true age. That's why she said that Valke is handsome, because he looks somewhat like Lucas.**

 **Isabel and Nick: These two were designed as twins during the design stage, but my friends didn't like that. Then she wanted it to happen after I wrote their story. When I gave her the option to amend it, she said to go with a romantic couple instead… which means more writing awkward social scenes for me. (Sarcastic yay! inserted here.)**

 **Desert Foxes: a reference to Erwin Rommel, a military general. Which is why they were so heavily armed. I really just added that part in to add some more pages, and also because I wanted to write a somewhat tactical shootout scene, because I've been playing a lot of** _ **Rainbow Six: Siege**_ **.**

 **I think that's it for facts. More of Jinzou Kokoro soon, and I might start an original story on FictionPress.**

 **Shout out to:  
The Burning Ruler, for his support for this and my other story. It makes me glad that my writing makes you happy.**

 **SownSky on YouTube, for making awesome GMVs that inspired me to write this and the last chapter. He has one for every** _ **RWBY**_ **opening so far.**

 **All the bands that I listen to. For inspiring my writing, especially the fight scenes.**

 **Okay, so two more things, for fun.**

 **First: a contest just for fun. Let's see if you can get my top 5** _ **RWBY**_ **girls, not in any particular order. Shouldn't be too hard. They're all in this story, somewhere, by name. Also, feel free to add yours if you want.**

 **Second: What are your 5 favorite** _ **RWBY**_ **songs? Mine are:**

 **Divide**

 **This Will be the Day**

 **Die**

 **From Shadows**

 **Red Like Roses Part II**

 **Although they're all good.**


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